All signs point to Oscar Piastri signing a deal that would see him drive for Williams in the 2023 F1 season.
The highly rated Alpine test and reserve driver missed out on an F1 move for 2022 despite wining a hat-trick of titles from 2019 to 2021.
As a result, Piastri has spent the current season testing last year’s Alpine, along with serving as the team’s reserve driver. While the Australian was happy to take the role, he did do with the agreement that Alpine would find him a race seat for next season.
It looks as though that move will happen, as it’s expected Piastri will be loaned to Williams in a similar deal to the one with Red Bull that involved Alex Albon.
Alpine are unlikely to have an open seat next season as Esteban Ocon in contracted to the end of 2024, while Fernando Alonso is expected to continue racing for the team in 2023.
As a result, the French side are open to letting Piastri move on a short-term basis, as they aren’t keen to lose such a highly rated youngster.
Latifi the odd driver out
Piastri‘s move would come at the expense of Nicholas Latifi, who has struggled so far in 2022.
Although the funding he and his father brought to Williams helped the team navigate the COVID-19 pandemic, he isn’t expected to be brought back in 2023.
There had been rumours that Piastri would replace Latifi as soon as this year’s British Grand Prix, but The Race reports that was never planned or discussed.
