Pierre Gasly will compete with Alpine for the 2023 F1 season after spending 9 years with Red Bull and AlphaTauri. The Frenchman has been with the Red Bull franchises since 2013 when he joined their Junior team.
He was confirmed as a Toro Rosso driver in 2018. And following Daniel Ricciardo’s departure, Gasly was promoted to the Red Bull seat alongside Max Verstappen. But the Frenchman failed to impress many in his short stint.
After just 12 races, Gasly was relegated back to Toro Rosso after a poor run of performances. He has been with the team ever since. But Gasly has often punched above the team’s weight claiming 3 podiums and a spectacular win in Monza in 2020.
He’s finally departing the Red Bull family at the end of 2022. But the Frenchman made sure he did not burn any bridges down before his departure.
Also Read: Pierre Gasly opens up on perks he will miss by departing from Red Bull
Was not easy to convince Red Bull to agree to Alpine move
Pierre Gasly claims AlphaTauri knew about his intentions when Alpine made the offer. And due to his decade-long ties with Red Bull, he wanted to exit respectfully in a good position.
He said, “All parties knew about it. It was clear between Alpine, Red Bull and myself. There were agreements which had to be made between all parties.”
But a deal involving Red Bull is far from simple. “It was not a simple deal. Because obviously, it’s not like Helmut Marko or Franz Tost would let me go without conditions.”
Gasly started AlphaTauri were only interested if they could replace him with a fast driver. And therefore he only chose to agree to leave if his team found a suitable replacement.
He clarified, “It was important for me not to just leave AlphaTauri and Red Bull and escape from the programme. I’m grateful for what they’ve given me in my career and that’s why it was important that everybody finds what they require.”
Also Read: Alpine paid $10 million to buy Pierre Gasly out of his Red Bull contract
Leaving Red Bull not an ‘escape’ plan claims Pierre Gasly
After the Colton Herta-saga, things became difficult and Gasly’s move stalled. But luckily, Nyck de Vries impressed the Red Bull hierarchy with his stellar debut performance in the 2022 Italian GP.
The Dutchman was keen on leaving Red Bull’s arch-rivals Mercedes if he was offered an F1 seat. And only after an agreement was reached, Gasly was free to leave for the French outfit.
Later it was confirmed that Gasly will pair up with Esteban Ocon at Alpine for an All-French lineup. Subsequently, De Vries was confirmed by AlphaTauri as their new driver for the upcoming season.
Despite the highs and lows of his Red Bull career, Gasly has expressed his gratitude to the team for giving him the chance to fulfil his racing dream. But he has ruled out any possible return to Red Bull in the near future. As he asserts “It’s 100% Alpine in my head.”
