Christian Horner regrets not including Oscar Piastri to Purple Bull’s driver academy when offered with the possibility to a number of years in the past.

Piastri, who will race for McLaren in 2023 after a protracted contract saga with Alpine this summer time, rose by the French firm’s driver academy in latest seasons earlier than successful final 12 months’s System 2 championship.

Horner says Purple Bull would have by no means let the highly-rated Piastri slip by its fingers like Alpine did.

“He drove for the Arden group in System 4 and System Renault, and was clearly a major expertise,” Horner instructed the Past the Grid Podcast, referring to the group he based together with his brother in 1997.

“There was a chance for Purple Bull to take a look at him on the time, and we did not take up that possibility, which is one thing that I remorse. However what he went on to realize is phenomenal, in System 3 and System 2.

“Now if he’d have been a driver right here, there is no such thing as a means that he would not have been beneath lock and key for a interval in time. As I say, I wasn’t get together, it is troublesome to evaluate what was promised or reneged on or so on [at Alpine].

“However definitely, it was surprising, in all probability from a number of areas.”

Piastri will exchange fellow Australian Daniel Ricciardo at McLaren subsequent season.

Ricciardo is but to substantiate his subsequent step, whereas Alpine is but to fill the seat Piastri didn’t need to take. Alpine is believed to be in talks with Purple Bull to signal Pierre Gasly from AlphaTauri, though that transfer is contingent on the latter with the ability to signal Nyck de Vries as a alternative.

Initially AlphaTauri had been sizing up IndyCar’s Colton Herta however the American driver has not been granted the superlicence exemption he would have wanted to race in F1.