The Piastri case could signify the end of the Alpine Academy
After the Piastri case, which saw Alpine lose its driver, it is possible that the team may close its Academy. They will no longer train drivers and will instead seek them from other sources when needed.
The Piastri case has dealt a blow to the morale of Alpine leaders. They view this departure as a failure in their young driver development program and no longer see the point in continuing to invest in it.
Laurent Rossi and Otmar Szafnauer were deeply touched that an academy driver was not grateful toward the team that was offering him a place for 2023.
They would have preferred to keep him to secure the upcoming seasons but didn’t want to put a too big contract that could have constrained the driver. This observation is the same for the academy drivers, according to Laurent Rossi.
I’m not sure I want to see Alpine continue training young talents, or else we’ll have to force them to sign an ironclad contract that they might not like.
The constructor is questioning whether to keep the academy in service or not. Currently, 4 drivers involved in F2 and F3 are part of it: Jack Doohan, Victor Martins, Caio Collet, and Olli Caldwell.
We are really wondering whether or not to continue recruiting beyond the group of drivers we have and with whom we will fulfill our obligations until the end, since we have multi-year plans with them, Rossi adds. We are questioning whether we will support new pilots, because why would we?
We believe that it is necessary to attract young talents into a set of values that are ours, so that when they are ready for F1, they already fit very well with us and are in harmony with us. They must have a mindset that pleases us, values that please us.
The academy is still operating for now, but it may very well close its doors very soon.
