A 100% French stable, 100% Norman even. Pierre Gasly has therefore chosen to join the Alpine team from the 2023 season. The driver from Bois-Guillaume, near Rouen, takes the place of the Spaniard Fernando Alonso and joins Esteban Ocon, born in Evreux.
The two drivers are the same age, they grew up on the same circuits and these two Normans will now be teammates in the French Alpine team. At the microphone of France Bleu Normandie, Jean-Jacques Gasly, father of Pierre, expressed his pride in the face of this announcement.
Jean-Jacques Gasly, what was your first reaction to this announcement?
“This is excellent news. We are very happy to know that our son will race for a French team and moreover almost Norman!
It took time. There were a lot of negotiations, negotiations. It wasn’t so much the desire that was missing, but Formula 1 contracts are like football contracts, it’s a bit difficult to define.
This morning, with a once again unstable AlphaTauri car, your son finished 17th in qualifying for the Japanese Grand Prix. To continue within the Red Bull group, had it become impossible for Pierre Gasly after nine years spent in this group?
“Alpha Tauri has always been Red Bull’s incubator and as such, they don’t necessarily have the same means. They have young mechanics, young engineers, people who are in training. And obviously, there are some difficulties that arrive on the track because of it.
Alpine? It’s another model. First of all, it’s a manufacturer and as such, they have to be at the front of the grid and they do everything to be there. Alpha Tauri assembles parts on a low budget. There at Alpine, we have a better defined, larger budget with more people around the cars.
And I believe that, on top of that, relations will be much easier, if only by using the French language, and the English language, which Pierre masters very well.”
Two French pilots, Normans, at Alpine, based in Normandy, are we on a strong symbol?
Two Norman pilots together, a beautiful symbol. First of all, these two pilots have known each other since childhood. They started their tours almost together, around six years old for Pierre. And so it’s a story that continues and I think it’s going to be a great story, at least I hope so.
They have always been presented as rivals in the youth categories. Now they are teammates. Aren’t you afraid of small battles within the Alpine team itself?
“I don’t think so, because it was indeed a somewhat strong rivalry in the days of karting, because they were young, because they were hot. Now, you know, they have more than five years of experience. in Formula 1 and they know what this professionalism requires at this level of racing.
It is above all a question of racing for a manufacturer, of bringing back points. For a manufacturer, it is a matter of making a brand known throughout the world. There, there is no question of leaving a few small, very old discords now and playing into the hands of opposing competitors.”
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