McLaren driver Daniel Ricciardo might have been plotting a way to get a seat at Alpine after his contract at McLaren was terminated. However, the Australian will face competition from AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly in a battle that is likely to be won by the Frenchman.
Of all the teams on the circuit, Alpine’s seat is undoubtedly the most inviting option for prospective drivers after Fernando Alonso announced his decision to move to Aston Martin next season.
Although Ricciardo has lost his seat at McLaren to fellow countryman Oscar Piastri, there was a growing belief that Alpine would consider offering their vacant seat to the Honey Badger.
Ricciardo has admitted that his ousting from McLaren has left his competitive spirit undeterred and he is still very open to finding a team in F1 despite getting offers to race in other motorsport events.
Alpine boss Otmar Szafnauer had himself spoken about the possibility of roping Ricciardo in for the 2023 season in spite of how he walked out on the team (then Renault) at the start of the 2021 season.
But, Alpine has its eyes set on former Red Bull driver Gasly, as per reports emerging from credible website Autosport.
It would set up an all-French pairing at Alpine, but even this deal will have some hurdles.
Red Bull technical advisor Helmut Marko all but closed the door on any potential opportunity for Gasly to make a comeback and partner Verstappen, but the team still needs him to stay at AlphaTauri at least for another season.
The main reason behind this is the fact that they are yet to be convinced about the ability of Yuki Tsunoda, who has not done enough to establish himself as a frontrunner at the team.
Where will Ricciardo go?
Regarding the Alpine seat, team principal Otmar Szafnauer refused to give too much away ahead of the Belgian Grand Prix.
“I think we should wait for Monday or Tuesday (after the contract recognition board meets) and then thereafter look at our situation, having good information and make those decisions,” Szafnauer said.
“Sitting here right now, it‘s just hypothetical. And I’d rather wait a day or two. It’s not long.”
Another rumour links Haas driver Mick Schumacher with AlphaTauri, but this would barely be a like-for-like replacement to Gasly considering how Michael Schumacher’s son has struggled at Haas.
Autosport had previously reported that Colton Herta had also caught the interest of AlphaTauri, but given him contracts at Andretti in IndyCar and McLaren as a test driver, the team will need to buy out two contracts.
This, of course, would be unlikely given Herta’s lack of experience in Formula 1.
A conspiracy theory is also doing the rounds which suggests Alpine is only throwing around so many names to enhance its bargaining power when it comes around to conducting negotiations with Ricciardo.
Do you think Ricciardo will find a seat at McLaren? Let us know in the comments.