Wolff questions statements: "I believe in karma and integrity"

Just hours after Alpine announced the junior driver for 2023, Piastri himself took up the pen and published a fierce statement to the team. In doing so, he called the announcement "incorrect" and claimed he does not have a contract with the French racing stable. "I will not be driving for Alpine next year," he added. The latter remains to be seen, because the legal battle with McLaren is not over yet.

Wolff and Horner question Piastri's statements

Wolff questions the driver's statements, although he also says he has 'bigger problems than sitting on the balcony watching the show unfold'. The Mercedes boss does believe that the junior programmes should be respected and that young people should sometimes be more careful about what they say about multinational organisations.

However, the Austrian added that he has no insight into the contracts and so cannot judge them. "I believe in karma, I believe in integrity. But I'm not here to judge because as I said, I don't know the legal situation," he said in conversation with Autosport.com.

Christian Horner doesn't quite understand the situation either. Speaking to Sky Sports, the Red Bull Racing team boss said that something like this 'should never happen contractually'. He also believes that some loyalty is required when a team has invested so much in a driver. "I think if Renault and Alpine have invested into his junior career, it’s because you invest in youth because you’re investing in it for the future, and there has to be an element of loyalty within that," Horner said.