Oscar Piastri explains viral Alpine radio message dig after Austrian GP

Ahead of this weekend's British Grand Prix, McLaren's Oscar Piastri has looked back at what turned into an infamous radio message at the close of last week's Austrian Grand Prix. Joking that "Alpine still managed to find a way to f*ck me over all these years later," the off-the-cuff message was quickly picked up by the media.

Piastri's message referenced a mistake the Enstone team made in 2022. After Fernando Alonso announced he would be leaving the team for the sunnier shores of Aston Martin, they confidently confirmed that their reserve driver, Piastri, would be taking the Spaniard's place. 

This led to one of the most memorable tweets of the championship's history as the Australian shot down the post from Alpine in what has since become Formula 1 folklore.

"I understand that, without my agreement, Alpine F1 have put out a press release late this afternoon that I am driving for them next year," he wrote. "This is wrong and I have not signed a contract with Alpine for 2023. I will not be driving for Alpine next year."

Discussing his radio message from last week and whether he thinks about how his career would have been different if he'd chosen to drive for the French team, Piastri admitted that the thought doesn't cross his mind. 

Oscar Piastri, McLaren

Photo by: Steven Tee / LAT Images via Getty Images

"It was just a kind of coincidence that qualifying was obviously an Alpine and then I kind of got impeded by both in the race to an extent, so it was more just a coincidence," Piastri explained in today's press conference. 

"But no, I've not really thought about it much recently. Obviously, when I joined Formula 1, it was kind of the comparisons and the directions that each team has taken. But now, I honestly haven't thought about it for over 12 months probably."

The Australian's frustration during the Austrian Grand Prix weekend was clear. During the latter stages of the race he was pushed off the track by Franco Colapinto as the Argentine duelled Red Bull's Yuki Tsunoda. Two laps later, the Papaya driver was then impeded by Pierre Gasly, adding insult to injury.

Fortunately for Piastri, McLaren has seen a surge in performance since he joined, with the team now enjoying the lead of the constructors' standings. Leveraging this new-found pace, the driver sits at the top of the drivers' standings with a 15-point lead over team-mate Lando Norris going into the weekend.