F1 LIVE: Piatri stuns Alpine by insisting he won’t be Alonso’s replacement next year

Lewis Hamilton has joined forces with Denver Broncos ownership group prior to the $4.65 billion acquisition of Walton-Penner NFL franchise.

Seven-time F1 World Champion Hamilton joined the consortium with Serena Williams in April in an attempt to buy Chelsea FC as part of Sir Martin Broughtonoffer, but the owner of the LA Dodgers Todd Boehly ultimately proved victorious.

Still, the 37-year-old racer, who regularly spends winters at his home in the Colorado mountains, has joined forces with the Broncos’ new ownership group, with Walmart chairman Rob Walton saying Hamilton’s “resilient spirit and standard of excellence will be an asset.”

Hamilton will work alongside former US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who also joined the ownership group just over two weeks ago. Hamilton tweeted: “Excited to join an amazing ownership group and be a part of the Broncos story!! Honored to work with a world class team and serve as an example of the value of more diverse leadership in all sports.”

The Walton-Penner family is close to closing its multibillion-dollar takeover of the 2015 NFL champions, which needs approval from NFL owners when they meet next Tuesday in Minneapolis. If approved as expected, the deal would be the highest ever for an American sports franchise.

Oscar Piastri he says he won’t drive for alpine next season, just a few hours after Formula one the team announced that he would trade Fernando Alonso. Piastri, the Formula 2 champion, said Alpine’s announcement that he will fill their vacated seat in 2023 made without his consent.

Alpine’s press release did not include any quotes from the 21-year-old, raising uncertainty as to whether Piastri was even aware of the team’s decision. And in an embarrassing turn of events for Alpine, just hours after their announcement, Piastri responded to the news by denying he had signed a contract for next season.

The Australian wrote on Twitter: “I understand that Alpine F1 issued a press release late this afternoon without my consent that I will be driving for them next year. This is wrong and I have not signed a contract with Alpine for 2023. I will not ride for Alpine next year.”

Piastri is a test driver at Alpine and with two-time world champion Alonso leaving to replace Sebastian Vettel at Aston Martin, he seemed a good fit for the team. But there have also been rumors that Piastri has held talks with McLaren, with Alpine team principal Otmar Szafnauer suggesting there was a “pre-arrangement” elsewhere.

“There are some concerns about going from a reserve driver contract with options to a racer contract,” Szafnauer said earlier Tuesday. “I’m not aware of any prior agreement he has with McLaren, if any, I’m hearing the same rumors as you. But I know that he has contractual obligations to us and we to him.”

Piastri has nine-time Grand Prix winner and fellow Australian Mark Webber as his manager, and the former Red Bull driver has previously stated that his protégé must be at the start of F1 by next year.