Alfa Romeo Formula 1 chief Fred Vasseur has downplayed the chances of F2 front-runner Oscar Piastri rejoining his team next year.
With Alfa Romeo holding the last available seat on the grid for 2022, the Swiss team has stated openly that it is considering plenty of F2 rookies.
Favourite for the seat is Guanyu Zhou, but the Chinese driver is current being headed in the standings by Piastri, who has had a stellar rookie campaign.
Piastri’s performance has prompted speculations that he is already worthy of a move to F1, especially if he wins the F2 championship.
However, Vasseur believes that Piastri is not being considered by Alfa Romeo because the management thinks he is already being lined up for a post with Alpine because he is a member of its academy.
“Oscar is doing a very good job and was very consistent over the last few weekends, but as far as I know he is linked with Renault or Alpine,” said Vasseur.
With F1 rules due to change next year to allow teams to run rookie drivers in a number of Friday sessions, Piastri could take on a test role with Alpine for 2022.
According to Vasseur, it would make little sense for Alpine to have brought Piastri up through the junior ranks only to release him to another team.
“If you invest in a driver for all the junior series and have a long term programme with him, I don’t see the point to let him go to another team, it would be strange,” he explained.
Vasseur, on the other hand, is clear about how good the young Australian is.
“If you compare with the past, he is doing a very, very strong job but it is crystal clear he is one of the best of the field today and he did a great job last year fighting until the last event,” he said.
“He is one of the young kids that will be successful in F1 for sure.”
While Alfa Romeo had previously stated that it will make a decision on its 2022 partner for Valtteri Bottas in September, the team has now postponed the decision.
“We are not in a rush to take this decision,” he said. “We have a couple of options on the table and we have to take time to decide, but we are not in a rush.
“The situation won’t change over the next couple of days and we will take a decision soon.”
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