In 2022, Alpine and McLaren were both convinced that they’d signed rising star Oscar Piastri to their repertoire for the F1 2023 season.

While it was ultimately McLaren that came out on top, Zak Brown has recalled the tactic Alpine used to “bully” Piastri into staying with the Enstone team.

Zak Brown reveals Alpine’s alleged “bully” tactic

Standing at the top of the F1 2025 championship standings decked out in his papaya overalls, it’s hard to imagine Australian racer Oscar Piastri finding the same success at any other team.

Yet just a few years ago, Piastri was an Alpine junior, which kicked off a spat between McLaren and Alpine over who would have the honor of signing the Aussie to a full-time F1 contract.

Now, in a conversation with Mail Sport, McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown has revealed more about the battle to secure Piastri and the tactics that he claims Alpine used to ‘bully’ the young driver.

As you might remember, in 2022, a series of dominoes fell that shook up the F1 grid heading into the next season. McLaren had determined it would be parting ways with Daniel Ricciardo, while Sebastian Vettel’s retirement opened up a seat for Fernando Alonso at Aston Martin.

Alpine — which had been fielding Alonso at that point — was shocked. As a result, the team turned to Oscar Piastri and made the announcement that their reserve driver would be stepping up to the big leagues.

The only problem? Piastri was the reserve driver for both Alpine and McLaren, and both teams felt it had a claim to his services for the F1 2023 season.

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Brown explained to Mail Sport that Ricciardo had until Monaco in 2022 to prove himself and when “it didn’t work out,” “Oscar came high in our thoughts.”

“Not only was he our reserve driver but we had a relationship with Mark Webber, who was managing him then as he does now,” he said.

“Oscar had pedigree – he was winning in junior formulas in his first year.

“At the same time Lando (Norris) was killing it for us, so blooding another new, young driver was a ‘risk’ we could afford to take.”

According to Brown, “the stars aligned. We signed Oscar in stages. Being our reserve driver, he was already familiar with us.”

Piastri’s McLaren contract, though, was not familiar to Alpine. The Enstone team in turn issued a bold press release declaring that Piastri would be promoted to Formula 1 alongside Esteban Ocon.

Piastri instantly denied the claims in a now-fabled social media post that read, “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.”

The post kicked off a battle between Alpine and McLaren in front of the FIA’s Contract Recognition Board, which ultimately recognized McLaren’s contract with Piastri and ordered Alpine to pay McLaren’s legal fees.

At the time, Alpine team principal Otmar Szafnauer claimed that he had been under the impression that Piastri’s future with the team was secure, only to discover that the driver was not actually “tied down in the way he should have been,” Brown said.

“But when you come in you have to assess everything and fix it. Maybe he should have taken a look.”

Brown has little sympathy for Alpine, even going so far as to allege that the team announcing Piastri’s promotion to the F1 outfit was a tactic designed to “bully” the young driver.

“Their press release saying Oscar would get the race seat in 2023 did not even contain a quote from him,” Brown told Mail Sport.

“They did not even ask him. They put the statement out as if it was a done deal. It was used to bully him into doing what they wanted.”

In the end, Piastri found his home with McLaren — and his place at the top of the leader boards likely has him thankful he did.

Read next: Why Oscar Piastri’s favourable McLaren treatment is a complete myth… for now