Gasly: 'Opportunities to get away from Red Bull seemed scarce'
F1 News
- GPblog.com
Pierre Gasly is making an interesting switch from AlphaTauri to Alpine F1 in 2023. The former Red Bull Racing protégé will join a factory team for the first time, which the Frenchman says is a good prospect.
A door opened for Gasly
A true Red Bull man, Gasly has been active in Formula 1 for six years, but will no longer be part of the Red Bull family for his seventh F1 season. Gasly will race alongside Esteban Ocon at Alpine F1. It may be the right move for Gasly. In 2022, his team finished ninth in the Constructors' Championship and the driver himself finished just 14th.
His contract was set to run through 2023 and with Alpha Tauri not being particuarly competitive, Gasly seemed to have nowhere to go; the seats at Red Bull Racing were given away to Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez and the other attractive spots on the grid were also occupied.
That was until Fernando Alonso announced his Alpine departure. Speaking to Auto Motor und Sport Gasly said: "I knew Red Bull wanted to keep me, so I also knew it would not be an easy conversation with Helmut Marko. But luckily he understood how important this step was for me."
Marko helped Gasly to Alpine
Gasly admitted he was realistic and not immediately enthusiastic. Talks between Alpine and Red Bull (representing AlphaTauri) could still go either way.
Gasly continued: "I had a contract for 2023. The possibilities of getting out from under that seemed scarce. But you can always talk about it and find out what is possible." Red Bull team advisor Marko appeared to be open to talks and so the situation started to change. "It was an important change in my career," Gasly said. "I think I fulfilled my role at Red Bull and AlphaTauri as well as I could over the past few years. Helmut recognised that and understood me."
The talks that were held ended in a win-win situation. Red Bull agreed with Alpine and recouped the investment it made in Gasly, Alpine strengthened the team with a second French driver and Gasly made an important move from the Red Bull family to a factory team.
"I see huge potential [...] This is where I want to be, and where I want to stay in the future. It's a factory team; you know you will always get the best material from them. There are not that many factory teams. This is the right time for me as a driver."