Why Mercedes fears McLaren's Oscar Piastri deal is bad for F1 

Sorry about the re-upload, everybody. Just fixing a mildly colossal error in the previous version! Thanks for watching - we really appreciate it

Nyck de Vries is an example of a driver situation Piastri was looking to avoid when it appeared Alpine were committed to Alonso and Ocon. Fighting and using common sense to ensure a place on the grid rather than being left years without a step up only to be forgotten and replaced in a few years time by a new flashy F2 champ that just had more fortunate timing. Merc didn't even use him as their reserve driver when he was at the track and the seat was free, instead taking George out his existing seat for the weekend. These F1 corporations love to talk about loyalty and commitment at the moment but will happily toss a young driver aside when it suits them. Good on Piastri, sent a message to the teams that their upcoming talent can't be taken for granted.

For years teams have spent millions on drivers development and then cast them aside for a bigger name, now that the tables have turned it's suddenly a problem

The purpose of the junior programs are to get them ready for F1. Right now it seems like the system in place is designed to hoard drivers to prevent others from having them. Drivers also risk wasting their prime years on the sidelines or on minnow teams, which is not what they want either.

When people start talking about loyalty or integrity in relation to contracts, you know they either messed up the contract or don’t have one that does what they want it to do…

people forget that alpine had no intention of putting oscar in their seat so oscar had every right to look for a better team. the difference is george had to wait for mercedes because he had to earn it they were a 8 time championship winners in a row, oscar had the opportunity to go to a better team when the original didn’t want him in the seat. fair play to him.

I don't think Toto wants De Vries getting any ideas about being able to control his own destiny.

Also, it's noteworthy that Helmut Marko won the battle with Lauda over Verstappen because RB gave him a solid contract with a promised drive, while Lauda (on behalf of Mercedes) on the other hand could only offer him a possible drive in 2 years' time. The clearest, most rewarding contract will always win.

Alpine screwed up, and don't want to admit it. No contract = free to move on.

I think they key point wolff is missing is that alpine had no intention to use piastri until last minute. It feels too many teams are more interested keeping drivers on their books versus actually getting them to f1. Obviously wolff has self interest in this, however the fact the contract recognition contract ruled in favour of piastri says a lot. I can’t stop thinking about Prost referring to the team as “a mess” when he left

Sounds like this "dangerous precedent" is going to keep more drivers from getting de Vries'd so no wonder Toto is against it.

Mercedes thinks anything that might threaten their success is “bad for the sport.”

Problem here is Alpine wanted to keep Fernando in the seat, Piastri was tired of waiting, then when Fernando decided to go to Aston Martin, now all the sudden they want Piastri. You really can’t blame Piastri. He wants to drive in F1. This was his chance with Mclaren and he took it.

Mercedes just fears one of their juniors will slip from their lineup too. The whole situation was on alpin and oscar did nothing wrong. Toto is siding with alpine, who were ethically in the wrong

My point from the previous video still stands regardless. This is all on Alpine and their colossal management fuck up, who have so far only ever managed to get a single driver from their program on the grid, and only on the condition of a free agent for Alfa Romeo.

Kudos to Mark Webber, top management from an experienced driver who clearly understands the pitfalls to avoid and has managed to get the best for Piastri

If Alonso hadn't left Alpine, we wouldn't even be talking about this. From everything I've seen, Piastri going to Alpine wasn't an option. With Ocon and Alonso guaranteed drives for at least one more year, Piastri was just going to be another shmuck begging for a chance, so the argument of loyalty and integrity holds absolutely no weight. Piastri had a choice to make; Sit and watch everyone else race for a few years, or go get himself into a seat. He chose the latter and I cant say I blame him.

Remember guys: If Toto gets mad at something, it means it's something good for everybody else.

Toto is mad because he did to George what Alpine would do to Piastri.

He wanted to be on grid for 23. Renault weren’t offering him at the time as they where trying to sign Alonso on a 1+1 deal. So he went to look else where. I see no problem in what he has done. They where telling him what he wanted to hear that it.

I love how Toto ignores the fact he will dump a driver(Botas) the instant he feels a better one comes along(Russell). In the end this is a business and Piastre's team did what was best with a team in Alpine that took him for granted.

I don't really feel bad for any team as far as the contract circus. if they really valued his presence they should have written a different contract. It's hard to feel bad for organizations that throw people to the ditch so frequently, it's a common thing in all professional sports.

It’s not right that teams expect drivers to wait for a seat that may not ever come. And as for costs, well, that’s not the driver’s fault that the current FiA structure is so costly.

Toto Wolff is worried about everything that challenges Mercedes

When Toto say "bad for F1" he means it removes one of his advantages. The rich teams don't get to stockpile drivers and remove any choices they have. A mechanic doesn't have to hang around at the workplace that helps with the apprenticeship. You don't get to extend contracts in perpetuity, just because the employee was good one...and you want to benefit without risking a longer contract to start with. Toto wants slaves...not drivers.

If you look into the detail, this much more about Alpine cocking up than Oscar doing anything wrong.

Can you blame him? Alpine had their chance, they kept him waiting for too long. Williams is not a bad place to start your F1 career but if you can get in a McLaren, why not... When Vettel decided to quit F1 and set the wheels in motion it was already too late.

All alpine had to do was offer him a seat not string him along. He had a career to think of

Real rich coming from Wolff. The only dangerous precedent that’s been set is, you’re only worth is if a F1 team deems you so. Ocon, Weherlin, Vandoorne, Dyvfrs, all passed along by MERCEDES! Piastri was preventing that. Besides Alpine view if it’s worth is WAY over inflated. Wait at Williams to get into a mid field team!

I think Alpine stuff ups started when they signed Ocon on a long term contract. With Piastri coming through they needed to make a decision between Alonso and Ocon and keep the other spot free for Piastri. They signed Ocon long term but then wanted to keep Alonso and Piastri too, and it all blew up in their face.

Seems obvious that a significant investment in a driver would require a strong contract to protect that investment 🤷🏻‍♂️🤷🏻‍♂️

You know what? Alpine deserved this. Piastri was the f2 champion and had literally nothing on the horizon for the foreseeable future. That’s unacceptable. They were thinking they can fool him with a second seat at Williams (like Russel had to endure for 3 years) with no guarantee they’d offer something more substantial. And to be fair the Alpine team isn’t promising they’ll compete at the highest step of the grid. So he was doomed to drive the worst car for an indefinite number of years (until Alonso decided to move on) then join arguably the best of the rest, which is hardly exciting for a driver of his potential. At least George Russel had the perspective of being a Mercedes’ driver (lol 2022 season) but Alpine? Nah. The real hero in this story was Alonso who made the move to Aston Martin, thus leaving a window open on how dumb that team is being managed.

This isn’t a problem with the junior driver system, it’s an Alpine problem and a problem with how their junior program works. Since 2016 they’ve fielded 8 Renault backed drivers in just Formula 2 and as of the start of this year… only 1 of those 8 has been promoted in the last 7 years. This is also just a case of Toto being Toto and chatting out his rear which is rich considering the last time a Mercedes backed junior made it to formula 2 was 2018 with Russell

If teams don't want to lose a young driver after investing heavily in them, maybe actually sign a contract with them and give them a seat, rather than keeping them on the sideline as 1) a backup for if your "real" driver moves on and 2) not on your rivals' teams.

This is not a young driver problem. This is an Alpine problem. The institutional incompetence alone that enables a team to lose both Alonso and Piastri nearly simultaneously speaks volumes. And I love Mercedes but Toto just wants Teams to hold all the power in the Young Driver vs Team relationship. I'm glad Piastri has managed to forge his own path and isn't stuck languishing in the backfield after already having to sit out of F1 for a season through no real fault of his own. Alpine took him and Alonso for granted and got what they deserved.

To be honest, it seems pretty pathetic to think of Otmar's words after the result of all of this. Asking for loyalty only because they could not figure out what to do with Alonso. This kind of leader is the last type of person most people will trust.

It seems like a lot of people don’t understand the purpose of an F1 teams junior program. It isn’t to get drivers ready for F1 or help the future of the sport. It’s investing in a young talent that the team hopes will payoff one day if that driver turns out to be great. It isn’t out of the goodness of their heart. They don’t have hearts they are businesses making investments. The problem Toto points out is true. If this kind of thing keeps happening teams will stop investing in young talent over fear they will get burned. That’s bad for everybody

HooRAH HooRAH.... Now may we please get a podcast covering ALL the apologies to Piastri and his team for the slanderous statements made in the public arena.... Or do they lack the integrity and honesty to do so... Wait what? What do you mean you cant sue someone for slander because it's F1?

If he meant that much to the team, they would have had a contract on the table in November/December. Ya snooze, ya lose. I hope Piastri has a fantastic career. Onwards and upwards

Put De Vries in an F1 car then Toto can talk, Mercedes have invested in a young driver for what? A FE win for them to withdraw from FE, so they’ve wasted their money themselves 👍

I think having Piastri's contract ending in the middle of the summer was a major oversight by Alpine.

There's a high probability IMO that when a team principal says "bad for F1" what they mean is "bad for my team."

Great explanation as usual Ed. The devil is in the detail, Piastri’s trust and loyalty was tested by Alpine’s lack of rigour. He gave them the opportunity for 8 months to give him a contract.

There definitely needs to be more clarity and trust between teams and it’s junior and reserve drivers. It needs to be a mutually beneficial relationship and not one in which one gets manhandled by the other. Wolff is worried about his junior drivers seeing Piastris move as a potential for THEM to leave, but that wouldn’t be the case if Wolff didn’t believe that his drivers were solidly his. Almost sounds like he has no plans to put them in a future seat and instead poach other drivers from other teams. Alpines reluctance to choose between Alonso and Piastri caused them to lose both and they have no podium on which to stand and declare they’re the victim. F1 is a business and as THE RACE points out, Piastris move to McLaren is solely blamed on Alpine not giving him a contract and him then capitalising on the demand for his services. I feel sympathetic towards Ricciardo as he was essentially forced out of his contract but I have no doubt he will find another seat either in the paddock or in a different sport. And I have some degree of sympathy to Alpine as well as they were put in a tough place when they expected to have Alonso with them, Piastri signed with McLaren before Alonso left and then Alonso also proceeded to leave, and thus Alpine in that case weren’t watching their back, and when they turned to see what the noise was, the one in front got away. Overall, Piastris move has, in my opinion, virtually no effect on future driver moves. At it’s core, he was out of contract and signed one with someone willing to make the offer. He didn’t break a contract or any sort of agreement with Alpine and simply took the opportunity that was presented to him before that door could close.

From everything I’ve seen Piastri made it clear he wanted to drive for Alpine. But they made it clear they didn’t want him to drive for them 🤷‍♂️

I think there's a fundamental problem with Formula 3 and Formula 2 - I think the limit there should be decreased to just 2 seasons (3 if you have finished in Top 5 at least once), which IMO is enough to evaluate if the driver is ready for the next level. That way the F2 field for example will not be cloged up with the likes of Ralf Boschung and others who stay for far too long.

Ever since Benetton snatched Schumacher from Jordan, teams should have been vigilant with their contracts. Alpine hasn’t been straight when talking to the media about the contract situation and have been playing the victim. Alpine messed up, if they really wanted Piastri, they should have locked him down with their lawyers

Toto now have to be afraid that Nyck de Vries jump ship and go to Alpha Tauri and end up racing against 2 Dutch Drivers in Red Bull.

No precedent, just poor commercial skills in Alpine. Alpine’s management are to blame here.

Jog on Toto. Remember that corporations are not your friend.

Alpine didn’t give him a seat so he went and got one. Wolff is just worried that he might have lost Russell to something like this

Alpine's indeciveness was their own undoing.

It just indicates that when a team has a talent like Piastri they need to give him the shot. They should have been pushing Alonso out for him for 23 at the start of the year.

Finally a sober explanation of what happened with Piastri. And contrary to Otmar alluding to Piastris lack of integrity it appears the opposite is true and the only reason for Alpines sudden issue with Piastris future is the unexpected exit of Alonso.

It’s not setting a precedent for young drivers to make their own decisions, it’s a wake up call that teams actually need to communicate with their rookies. Alpine lost Piastri because they ignored him, so when Piastri saw a seat opening, he took the chance.

I think Piastri and Alpine was unique because I believe Alpine wanted to have their cake and eat it too. They were dilly dallying with Alonso and no driver wants to deal with that uncertainty.

This also shows more teams are needed to provide more seats

Alpine: **Refuses to let Piastri join the team** Piastri: **Goes to another team** Alpine: "How could Piastri do this?"

I don't share Toto's view that Piastri's Mclaren move sets a bad precedent. I find him somewhat exaggerating this case.

Have at least 3 more teams on the grid, problem solved.

An analogy for this would be “Corporation sides with other corporation’s stance over workers rights”. Alpine tried to have an obedient slave with no guarantee of getting a seat while expecting “full loyalty” just cause they paid for his development. They 100% deserved losing Oscar. Of course Toto is going to side with them…he also wants to have little obedient slaves who will even let him spit on their faces if it guarantees a seat in F1. F1 is increasingly becoming a billionaires sport and increasingly bureaucratic.

I mean, teams have 2 options to fix it immediately. Offer the young drivers seats in your team or don't fund so many drivers if you have no place to put them

Alpine and Otmar owe Oscar an apology for publicly questioning his integrity when in fact they were the ones playing games with his career

Alpine snoozed & lost. As simple as that.

The Piastri verdict is then essentially F1's Bosman verdict. More power to the drivers. Good.

Maybe Toto should focus on managing his own team and development of Mercedes car instead of trying to give his s****y opinions on other manufacturer's drivers programme? He clearly didn't have clue nor full picture of what was happening with Oscar/Alpine/McLaren at the time and it clearly showed once dust was cleared by Contract Recognition Board - when you compare the BS Wolff was saying about integrity etc. and what was happening, there is serious misalignment. What is also clear to me Toto is trying so hard to redirect attention of the public and twist everybody's opinion instead of admitting to making false assumptions and simply being wrong. But, Toto Wolff is never wrong, isn't he. Also, problem with his opinion is that there is no danger in "driver can manoeuvre themselves out of an organisation that has funded their career by being, as he put it, ‘clever’." but there is clear danger Mercedes will look awfully silly not being able to put their own developed driver in factory team seat because of their s****y policy. Yes, they have put George (finally, after 3 damn years in the Williams). Yes, Ocon (also Mercedes boy once) also found a seat in Alpine, but remember he Toto cried in the media he was cheated by being promised of the Renault seat to Ocon and then they gave the seat to Ricciardo? Piastri was simply trying to save his own career and he managed to do so, while big corporation was embarrassed. Because Wolff is representing the other big corp and not the driver's side he is feeling the danger (and rightfully so).

Definite lack of integrity there

The bit that Toto seems to be ignoring (or not aware of when he made those comments) is that the CRB revealed Piastri had been waiting for a promised contract from Alpine since November 2021. Had Alpine actually signed him to a contract in the timeframe they had said they would, none of this would have happened.

Well Toto is the biggest Reason no new F1 Teams can join even if the Series Desperatly needs more Teams on Grid for Years. And now he cries about this? I Understand Piastri the 3 Year at Williams from Russel showed how wrong the System is atm. And they would have done the same with Piastri. Piastri did nothing wrong his Contract ended and he got a new one end of Story its Alipnes fault they dont know whats in their own Contracts.

Toto has lost his cleverness ability with his age and 2021 trauma. If something is not working is mercedes favour or lulu's favor he feels F1 need a change. Winning 7 championships and still crying for not winning 8 due to Masi has affected his mental state.

Wasn't Toto all for making sure Albon cut his RB ties when joining Williams? Everything always needs to be buttered Toto side up.

Let's not forget that Zhou was an Alpine Junior Driver before he went to Sauber Alfa Romeo, of which Sauber themselves has their own Junior Drivers Academy.

Hey Toto, since you care so much about your Young Drivers getting to F1, why is Nyck de Vries not in a seat??? If this is not the pot calling the kettle black...

I just stopped by to say TODO WOLF has an issue with the McLaren-Piastri deal. NOT Mercedes. Todo Wolf.

Alpine fcked up when they signed Ocon to a long term contract, but that was unavoidable as they are french and prioritise french drivers. Unlike Ferrari who despise italian drivers, they could have had alonso and pastry line up

Typical employer move. Treat your staff like shit and when they leave there is a "loyality problem". Ar first question why someone doesnt want to work for you in the first place.

What’s the problem here? If you’re going to invest millions into a driver’s development, then offer them a clear path for their future.

They spent millions on him as an investment. But didn't lock him in. That's their fault, not his. It's nice to see a driver take control of their own future.

Are you guys not going to do a video showing disgust towards all the Hamilton fans that are abusing Yuki and hannah? Or do you only do videos calling out a Max fan?

Wolff would have had no clue as to what happened with Alpine and Piastri behind the scenes, yet he still pokes his nose into things that dont concern him. He should learn to shut up and get his house in order first (get de vries and vandoorne seats), then whinge about others.

Maybe Nyck de Vries pull a Piastri and get out of Toto's grasp somehow.

i think apline was trying oscar to stay in F1 through Williams for 1-2 years so that he can develop and then give him alpine seat like george russell and charles leclerc

He has burned his bridges before he started-wont make it in F1, although he has done extensive testing he did not exactly light up the laps times. I call it an expensive bust

Imagine if Alpine had fired him. He would have sued the crap out of them. Let's hope he's worth the bother.

Toto Wolff be like: Nice engine you got there, Oscar. Would be a shame if it broke down.

Teams want these drivers available to them, that's their choice to spend the money. If the teams all decide to stop supporting young drivers for fear they might be "un-loyal" then they can deal with the consequences of having no suitably experienced drivers to choose from. Or have to use pay drivers who often can't perform eg Latifi

Funny how hundreds of millions of dollars worth companies are messing up contract terms like this lol

Everyone gangsta about 'iT's LEgaL' until they realize it's usually the small guy getting bent over by legal agreements. Then it turns into 'legal terms are eeeeevil'.

Re-upload feels appropriate for an Alpine related video.

Thank you so so much for this critique of Alpine and of Wolff's comments. Everyone knew Alpine put on their oversized shoes and rainbow wig entering this saga, even before the CRB decision. How anyone can criticise junior drivers or Piastri for that matter off the back of this is absurd. If Alpine had any clue they would have signed Piastri at the earliest opportunity when it became apparent Alonso did not want the 1+1 deal, and if they had any decency they shut up about loyalty and their investment when they have fundamentally failed to secure their interests and services of either driver. With Alonso saying his move was motivated with irregularities within the Alpine camp, this critique just cements both drivers decisions to leave them as being the correct move. I would not be surprised if they end up going backwards next year!

Good for Piastri. Hopefully a good lesson to teams not to undermine drivers for their own interests

He literally put Ocon in alpine because he wasn’t going to give him a Mercedes seat

Well done The Race for pushing back against the Wolf line.

I know he won a race, but how did Ocon become indispensable? If Piastri is a Verstappen-level talent why the heck is he the one getting shipped away to Williams FOR TWO YEARS. McLaren didn't let a freak race win cloud their judgment. All this underlines F1's need for 2 or 3 additional teams. F1 is losing drivers with the potential to IndyCar because of pay drivers and a dearth of entry-level seats.

Toto being against something usually means it's generally a good thing

Toto angry he can’t control the career of another human? (Pretends to be shocked)

Looks like he made a bad choice because alpine is best of the rest and the McLaren sucks 😂

If only Ricardo refused to leave McLaren. Then piastri still wouldn’t have a seat. A bit dirty of McLaren to sign piastri before telling Ricardo and having him believe they would continue for 2023

Seems these principals lose sight of that fact its a bilateral business, the drivers are self employed contractors and run their own business. When the details come out each and every time the teams were playing games and when they come out on the short end its a problem but when they make tens of millions its good business. Time for the principals to wake up and realize they were outsmarted by kids, hard not to laugh at that.

Absolute rubbish. It’s up to the multi million dollar organisations to actually HAVE their drivers under contract. If they don’t, then said driver is fair game for anyone.