OSCAR PIASTRI SET FOR EARLY McLAREN DEBUT

It has been confirmed that Oscar Piastri will make his official debut as a McLaren driver in Abu Dhabi, during the Formula 1 rookie test set for Tuesday after the last Grand Prix of the season.

By Luis Vasconcelos – Interlagos Circuit, Brazil.

Piastri’s first ‘official drive’ of a McLaren, comes after Alpine agreed to release the young Australian driver before the end of his contract.

As confirmed by AUTO ACTION last week, Piastri has already tested with a McLaren, in the case last year’s MCL35, in a private two-days test in the Paul Ricard, days after the Mexican Grand Prix.

The Australian driver was spotted arriving at the Paul Ricard on Wednesday morning and then conducted a brief familiarization test in a short version of the French circuit, but on Thursday he was out on the full Grand Prix circuit running consistently.

Oscar Piastri is free to run with this year’s McLaren MCL36 on November 22^nd (Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images)

With the circuit closed, for this was a private test, it was only possible to see the orange car was running without any sponsorship signage but with the pit lane out of sight for those outside the confines of the circuit it was not possible to see what kind of overalls the young Australian was wearing.

In Interlagos, Alpine’s Team Principal Otmar Szafnaeur admitted, “that test was already part of the agreement we reached with Oscar”, explaining that, “we have decided to release him before the end of the year, immediately after the season is concluded.”

That leaves Piastri free to run with this year’s McLaren MCL36 on November 22^nd, as the Australian falls in the category of rookie drivers, while future teammate Lando Norris will be at the wheel of the other car, conducting tyre testing for 2023.

After the split between Alpine and Piastri became quite acrimonious, with the team taking the matter to the Contract Recognition Board, Szafnauer admitted it had taken some time to reach an amiable agreement but now insists that, “we’re drawing a line under it. Once this season ends, Oscar is free to go and do whatever he wants to do.”

With the Australian now being confirmed for the one-day post-season test in the Yas Marina Circuit, the complete line-up for the rookie test in Abu Dhabi is as follows:

Red Bull – Liam Lawson

Ferrari – Robert Shwartzman

Mercedes – Fredrik Vesti

Alpine – Jack Doohan

McLaren – Oscar Piastri

Alfa Romeo – Theo Pourchaire

Aston Martin – Felipe Drugovich

Haas – Pietro Fittipaldi

AlphaTauri – Nyck de Vries

Williams – Logan Sargeant