Piastri predicts: "Alonso will go to Mercedes"
© McLaren Racing Media Centre
As the debate continues over who could replace seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton, Oscar Piastri is already speculating about Alonso's arrival at Mercedes.
The Brackley team has numerous options to fill the empty seat left by Lewis Hamilton. From the young and promising Kimi Antonelli, who will make his debut in F2 this year, skipping F3, to Mick Schumacher or Esteban Ocon, already a Mercedes reserve driver in the past and whom the team could consider bringing back. However, Oscar Piastri has a very clear name in mind: Fernando Alonso.
"Alonso will go to Mercedes.” As he stated in an interview with F1TV Pro during testing in Bahrain, the Australian already sees the Spaniard wearing the black jumpsuit. Alonso would undoubtedly be the most experienced driver on the grid, ideally paired with George Russell, and the only one of the options with world titles to his name. The McLaren driver could contemplate the possibility of the Spaniard joining Mercedes to work alongside Toto Wolff, also due to the close ties between Alonso and Mark Webber, Piastri's current manager.
McLaren, performance far behind Red Bull and Ferrari
After testing in Bahrain, the Woking-based team took stock of the situation ahead of next weekend. Both drivers, after the series of minor problems encountered in testing (which limited Norris to 145 laps in the three days available), agree that McLaren will be no match for Red Bull.
"I'd like to think that we are somehow at the front of the grid. At the moment, though, I don't think we're capable of competing with Red Bull, and I don't think anyone on the grid thinks otherwise," Piastri told motorsport.com. Unlike the young Australian, who was a little more restrained in his statements, Lando Norris was more pessimistic about the MCL38's performance, placing himself not only well behind Max Verstappen, but also the Ferrari.
"If you ask me if we've made a step forward? Of course we have. If you ask me if we improved a lot of things? Yes. We have made some steps in the right direction, but we are still a long way behind Red Bull and Ferrari. So we have a lot of work ahead of us, but also a lot of lessons learned in the last days to put into practice before next week.”
© McLaren Racing Media Centre
Norris: "I don’t have any regrets, I trust my team"
Despite his statements on the start of the season, the British driver assured Racing News 365 in an interview that he is confident in his decision to renew with McLaren, although alongside the interest already expressed by Red Bull, the opportunity to switch to Mercedes has now opened up with Hamilton's departure.
"No, no, I'm very happy. I could have waited, so I had the option [to renew or not]. I knew opportunities would come to me, and the opportunities I had last year and this year, and what could happen or what will happen in the next two years. So I don't have any regrets. I trust my team, I trust what we have achieved and what we can achieve in the future and I'm very happy to be where I am.”
Both drivers, but especially Norris, who is aiming for his long-awaited first win, hope McLaren will progress and achieve its goals, knowing that a world title may have to wait until 2026.
