ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast (AP) — Tidjane Thiam, a former Credit Suisse CEO, won a near-unanimous vote to represent the Democratic Party of Ivory Coast in an upcoming presidential election, the party announced.
Thiam won 99.5% of the vote and ran unopposed for the nomination. He is the current president of the party. He previously resigned from his position as CEO of Credit Suisse after a corporate espionage scandal rocked the company. An external report found that Thiam had no knowledge of the espionage.
It isn't known who will run against him, but the current president, Alassane Ouattara, has indicated that he may run again. Ouattara won in 2020 after a disputed election left dozens dead and opposition candidates boycotted the election.
Ivory Coast is set to hold the vote in October.
FILE - Tidjane Thiam, CEO of Credit Suisse, speaks at the Bloomberg Global Business Forum, Sept. 25, 2019, in New York. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File)
It's the tweet that changed everything for Oscar Piastri.
A blunt 48-word message in 2022 paved the way for the Australian driver to lead the current Formula 1 standings with McLaren, rather than struggling to get into the top 10 with Alpine.
“I understand that, without my agreement, Alpine F1 have put out a press release late this afternoon that I am driving for them next year,” Piastri wrote. “This is wrong and I have not signed a contract with Alpine for 2023. I will not be driving for Alpine next year.”
Nearly three years on from Piastri — who was then Alpine's reserve — snubbing the team for McLaren in such a public way, it's clear he made the right choice.
Piastri has won four of the six races this season and is on a streak of three wins in a row. He has 131 points this year, while Alpine has seven points in total and last won a race nearly four years ago.
Piastri is targeting a fourth consecutive win in the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix on Sunday, but suspects the bumpy Imola track could mean tougher competition for McLaren than two weeks ago in Miami.
“When you’ve won four out of six, it’s been a great start. I’ve been enjoying the success we’ve been having on track, but for me what’s been very satisfying is all the work we’ve done behind the scenes to achieve that,” he said Thursday. “It’s quite a different feeling when you win a race because you feel like you’ve just gotten by or had good circumstances. But to now be winning because we have an incredibly quick car and I feel like I’m driving well, that’s very satisfying.”
Piastri and McLaren had the pace again in Friday’s first practice session as the Australian was fastest by .0032 of a second ahead of teammate and title rival Lando Norris. Carlos Sainz, Jr. was third-fastest for Williams, .020 off Norris’ time. Defending champion Max Verstappen was only seventh-fastest for Red Bull.
The session was stopped with just over two minutes left when Gabriel Bortoleto slid off track and tapped the barrier, leaving his Sauber stuck in the gravel.
Alpine isn't challenging the top teams on pace but it's in pole position for drama.
The Renault-owned team had been expected for months to drop Australian driver Jack Doohan, a rookie, for the fast but inconsistent reserve Franco Colapinto.
At the Miami Grand Prix, team principal Oliver Oakes dismissed that claim, but two days after the Miami race, Oakes suddenly resigned. A day later, Alpine dropped Doohan — whose best race result was 13th — after the Miami Grand Prix and promoted Colapinto.
The Argentine driver, a mid-season replacement at Williams in 2024, is happy to be back in F1 but expressed reservations Thursday about how the whole process has been handled.
Colapinto said it's “never nice circumstances” to get a seat at another driver's expense, and expressed concern his new deal — which only runs for five races — isn't long enough to really show what he can do.
The first of two races in Italy this year is already delighting the home fans.
For the first time since 2021, they have an Italian driver in Mercedes' 18-year-old Kimi Antonelli, and Ferrari's red-clad tifosi fans get their first sight of Lewis Hamilton racing for the team on Italian soil.
Piastri, too, has been connecting with his Italian heritage as he met with some “very, very distant relatives” and became an honorary citizen of Licciana Nardi in Tuscany, where his family name originated.
AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing
Alpine driver Franco Colapinto of Argentina steers his car during the first free practice at the Enzo and Dino Ferrari racetrack, ahead the Italy's Emilia Romagna Formula One Grand Prix, in Imola, Italy, Friday, May 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
McLaren driver Oscar Piastri of Australia steers his car during the first free practice at the Enzo and Dino Ferrari racetrack, ahead the Italy's Emilia Romagna Formula One Grand Prix, in Imola, Italy, Friday, May 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
McLaren driver Oscar Piastri of Australia sits in his car during the first free practice at the Enzo and Dino Ferrari racetrack, ahead the Italy's Emilia Romagna Formula One Grand Prix, in Imola, Italy, Friday, May 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)
McLaren driver Oscar Piastri of Australia walks in the paddock at the Dino and Enzo Ferrari racetrack, ahead the Italy's Emilia Romagna Formula One Grand Prix in Imola, Italy, Thursday, May 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)
McLaren driver Lando Norris of Britain, left, is flaked by his teammate Oscar Piastri of Australia in the paddock at the Dino and Enzo Ferrari racetrack, ahead the Italy's Emilia Romagna Formula One Grand Prix in Imola, Italy, Thursday, May 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)
McLaren driver Oscar Piastri of Australia answers reporters during a news conference at the Enzo and Dino Ferrari racetrack, ahead the Italy's Emilia Romagna Formula One Grand Prix in Imola, Italy, Thursday, May 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
