Alonso and Piastri labelled as 'BAD GUYS' in F1 saga

Fernando Alonso believes he and Oscar Piastri were portrayed as the "bad guys" to sell the story of their fallout with Alpine.

The French manufacturer took its time over contract negotiations during 2022, so much so that Alonso opted to leave and join Aston Martin instead.

Alpine thought they could just promote Piastri, who had been the team's reserve all year, due to a clause in his contract.

But there was a deadline in the deal that wasn't hit so Piastri and his manager Mark Webber struck a deal with McLaren instead.

READ MORE: Sainz FRUSTRATED as he blames Piastri for ending his race in Spa

Alonso: You need good ones and bad ones

“You need to sell the story,” Alonso said on the BBC Chequered Flag podcast. “You need to tell which ones are the good ones and the bad ones.

“Because they have more power, Piastri and myself were the bad ones that we were just playing on the 1st August.

“I was moving to Aston Martin and Piastri was answering the tweet of the announcement.

“This is part of the job as well, in every race, every session, there are good guys and bad guys and the media always put me on the bad side.

“I don’t enjoy it but I don’t mind it either.”

READ MORE: F1 Driver Salaries: How much do Hamilton, Verstappen and co earn?