{"id":10442,"date":"2022-05-24T18:22:26","date_gmt":"2022-05-24T17:22:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/formula1news.co.uk\/?p=10442"},"modified":"2022-05-24T18:22:30","modified_gmt":"2022-05-24T17:22:30","slug":"renault-ceo-warns-decision-on-alpine-driver-line-up-wont-be-100-pleasant-for-alonso-ocon-and-piastri","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/formula1news.co.uk\/renault-ceo-warns-decision-on-alpine-driver-line-up-wont-be-100-pleasant-for-alonso-ocon-and-piastri\/","title":{"rendered":"Renault CEO warns decision on Alpine driver line-up won’t be ‘100% pleasant’ for Alonso, Ocon and Piastri"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Renault CEO Luca de Meo says that Alpine have a responsibility to \u201cprotect\u201d Fernando Alonso, Esteban Ocon and Oscar Piastri amid speculation over the Spaniard\u2019s future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alonso will turn 41 later this year having entered his 20th<\/sup> season in Formula 1 this year with Alpine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After winning 32 races and two championships in his first spell in the sport, Alonso returned following a two-year hiatus in 2021, and scored points on 15 occasions, out-qualifying and out-racing team-mate Esteban Ocon on 11 occasions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

READ: Leclerc at risk of penalty as Ferrari reveal turbo and MGU-H damaged beyond repair<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

He also grabbed a podium in Qatar and, despite the Frenchman\u2019s remarkable win in Budapest, finished above Ocon in the Drivers\u2019 Championship by seven points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Oviedo-born racer has scored points twice in 2022, but it would certainly have been more had it not been for some wretched luck in the early going of this season, and out-qualifying the 25-year-old twice in six races this year has been plenty proof that he has barely lost a tenth of pace since his championship-winning days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yet there are still whispers that Alpine are ready to replace him with rookie and current Formula 2 champion Oscar Piastri, who missed out on a seat in the pinnacle of motorsport this season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Responding to those rumours previously, the double world champion asserted \u201cif I was 25, there would not be this talk,\u201d adding that a driver\u2019s worth should be judged on \u201cperformance,\u201d not \u201cage.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 40-year-old also stated his intention to race in F1 for \u201ctwo or three more years.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After winning four races in F2 last year on his way to the title, Piastri is one of the most promising young prospects in racing right now, so it is little surprise that he is being linked with a seat, but there may be some confusion as to why Alonso might be in danger of being replaced given his performances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With three outstanding drivers in the team and only two seats, de Meo admits he has a conundrum on his hands finding a solution that works for all of them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe love Fernando very much,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are going to have to find a solution for everyone, because we also have Esteban and Oscar, who are very good. We want to protect our drivers and seek an ideal solution for everyone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think the work that Fernando has done and is doing is incredible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe combined the experience of Alonso with the youth of Ocon and now Piastri enters. It is a challenge to find a position for the three of them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe solution will not be 100 percent pleasant for all three of them, but we believe that we have to give each one of them an opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With Alonso aging, a changing of the guard will naturally take place over time but, given Alonso\u2019s current status at the team as well as his championship history with the Enstone team under their Renault guise, the Italian CEO is aware that the 40-year-old is to be treated with a great deal of respect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have to protect the three drivers and also the one that they say is a super-talent in Piastri,\u201d added de Meo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFernando is 41 years old and Piastri is 21. The moment of change will come, but Fernando is a legend and we so cannot treat him as if he was just another Alpine employee.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alpine came into the 2022 season buoyed by the new technical regulations having used an enlarged airbox last season to accommodate their outdated engine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This year, they developed the engine for the first time in four years, and the anticipation was that they might finally start consistently competing for solid points and even podiums.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This has not materialised, but de Meo maintains that patience is a virtue, and believes that Alpine can still be championship contenders in time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Magnussen backtracks on comment about Hamilton maliciously crashing into him https:\/\/t.co\/ZVitaWCeMD<\/a><\/p>— Formula1News.co.uk (@Formula1newsUK) May 24, 2022<\/a><\/blockquote>