"It was a tough time," admits Oscar Piastri as he talks of the contractual saga that threatened his career.

Looking back on 2025 it is easy to forget that in only his third season in F1 Oscar Piastri was a serious challenger for the title, taking it down to the wire in Abu Dhabi.

As one reflects on the six wins - not forgetting the Sprint victory in Qatar - and six poles, that helped McLaren secure its second consecutive constructors' title, one shudders to think of how things might have worked out had he failed in his bid to walk away from Alpine in 2022, the French team finishing last season bottom of the pile, 811 points adrift of its Woking rival.

In successive seasons the Australian had won the F3 and F2 titles, and looked set to step straight up to an F1 seat, but with Alpine enjoying an embarrassment of riches, in the form of Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon, Piastri was sidelined, destined to serve the 'non-role' of reserve driver, which in fact was part of his reward for winning the F2 title.

Alongside his duties with Alpine, the French team came to an agreement with McLaren that would see him as reserve for the Woking team also, the youngster taking full advantage of testing for both outfits.

However, mid-2022, Alonso threw a spanner in the works by announcing that he was heading to Aston Martin for 2023, Alpine subsequently announcing that he would be replaced by Piastri.

Curiously, the press release included no comment from the Australian, who just a couple of hours later issued his own statement in which he insisted that no contract had been signed.

At a time Piastri was also being linked with Wiliams, Alpine hit out with (then) team boss Otmar Szafnauer threatening legal action and publicly casting doubt on the Australian's loyalty and integrity.

The case went to the FIA's Contract Recognition Board who found in favour of the driver, who subsequently confirmed that he would be joining McLaren, for whom, it was revealed, he had signed almost a month before Alpine had made its announcement.

"It was certainly a tough time," admits the Australian in the latest Off The Grid video. "Naturally, as a racing driver, you want to go racing.

"That year, not racing was tough," he continues. "It did allow me to view some things from the outside a little bit easier, being part of a weekend, understanding what media commitments are going to be like, what the sponsor commitments are going to be like, just the general rhythm of the season. I learned a few things about that, but it was a tough time.

"I always kind of took pride in the fact that I was doing everything that I could, and I was always confident that something would come up.

"I kind of knew that it was going to be a pretty big story," he says of the saga. "There were reasons for doing that, it wasn't just me going out of my way to announce to the world that I'm not racing.

"I mean, I certainly look back on it now with some laughs," he adds. "But, definitely at the time, it wasn't so funny.

"It obviously went to the CRB. Things were in my favour, but that was another pretty tense moment."