The Formula 2 champion Oscar Piastri will replace Daniel Ricciardo in the McLaren lineup for the 2019 season.
Owner of the team Andreas Seidl informed Ricciardo of the choice after the Hungarian Grand Prix on Sunday night.
Currently, Ricciardo and the team are negotiating a monetary agreement to exit his contract one year before its 2023 expiration date.
Since McLaren and Piastri had already signed a contract for the upcoming season,
the only thing standing in Alpine's way of driving there is his appeal to the FIA contract recognition board.
Piastri tweeted to imply he won't compete for the French squad in 2019 more than an hour after Alpine said he would replace Fernando Alonso, who was departing for Aston Martin.
With the assumption that McLaren's contract with Piastri being upheld, Ricciardo now seems prepared to accept the Alpine seat
that his fellow Australian did not want for the 2023 season, which would result in a smaller pay-out than if he sat out for the entire year.
Ricciardo participated at Alpine in 2019 and 2020 while it was still Renault, and the management team has undergone a significant change since he left for McLaren.
The opinion in the Formula One paddock is that Ricciardo needs a change of environment in order to regain his best form even if he was one of the finest drivers on the field in 2020.
The new Alpine team manager, Otmar Szafnauer, has said that he would not be opposed to Ricciardo coming back to the team.
Since the two teams were contending for fourth in the current championship and were expected to be well matched,
a move to the French team would also offer the temptation of competing against McLaren on the track the next season.
Ricciardo replacing Mick Schumacher at Haas would be an unusual scenario, although it is believed Ferrari has the last say.
Piastri's official confirmation by McLaren won't happen until Ricciardo has secured a different ride on the 2019 grid.
The Piastri triumph is a significant victory for McLaren and a humiliating defeat for Alpine, who seem doomed to lose a
two-time world champion and a potential future world champion to rival teams within a matter of 72 hours.
With Lando Norris, 22, Piastri, 21, will make his Formula One debut in what is probably the best young driver pairing on the F1 grid.