Oscar Piastri said that "Alpine still managed to find a way to f*** me up all these years later" in response to an incident during the Austrian Grand Prix.
While trying to chase down his race-leading team-mate Lando Norris, former Alpine Formula 1 junior Piastri had a scary moment when Alpine driver Franco Colapinto accidentally forced him onto the grass while Piastri was lapping him.
LAP 55/70
— Formula 1 (@F1) June 29, 2025
Piastri is forced to take evasive action as Colapinto, who doesn't see the Aussie behind him, squeezes him onto the grass 😵#F1 #AustrianGP pic.twitter.com/E8jtGkcPjW
Then Pierre Gasly was massively unaccommodating at Turn 1 as Piastri tried to lap him late on, which prompted Piastri to say on the radio: "Alpine still managed to find a way to f*** me up all these years later, huh?"
Colapinto said of his near-miss, "I just didn't see him. He was in my blindspot and I was focused on [Yuki] Tsunoda", whom he was battling for position at the time.
But he was handed a five-second time penalty and two penalty points for the incident, while the stewards felt no need to investigate Gasly.
The context behind Piastri's comments comes from his time on Alpine's books.
Alpine famously announced the promotion of its then-reserve driver and long-time protege Piastri into a race seat for 2023 after Fernando Alonso chose to join Aston Martin - which Piastri quickly denied with what's become one of the most famous tweets in F1 history.
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. This is wrong and I have not signed a contract with Alpine for 2023. I will not be driving for Alpine next year.
— Oscar Piastri (@OscarPiastri) August 2, 2022
He instead had signed a deal to race for McLaren for 2023 and 2024, something Alpine disputed at the Contract Recognition Board, which ultimately ruled against Alpine.
Alpine aired its very public annoyance of Piastri and McLaren's conduct at the time, with then-Alpine team principal Otmar Szafnauer questioning Piastri's "integrity".
Alpine had a stronger start to F1's ground effect era than McLaren while Piastri was still under contract in 2022, but the two teams' fortunes have taken very different turns since then.
McLaren won last year's constructors' championship and is already more than 200 points clear of its nearest rival in this year's standings, while Alpine is last with 11 points, and has scored at just three race weekends this season.
Piastri, who leads the drivers' championship this year, has on his own scored more than three times as many points as Alpine's two cars have combined since he made his F1 debut (605 versus 196).
