Pierre Gasly – Alpine – Bio, F1 Record, Stats and News

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Pierre Gasly was for long viewed as one of the brightest talents of his generation and despite lots of ups and downs in his F1 career so far, he has managed to gain a big fanbase for his driving abilities, his emotions and his funny moments.

After spending almost all of his career in Red Bull’s Junior Academy, in Red Bull’s sister team, Alpha Tauri (previously Toro Rosso) and Red Bull Racing itself, Gasly decided to cut the ties with Red Bull in 2023, starting anew at Alpine.

RedBull’s ‘go-to man’: Gasly’s Career in F1

Gasly has had a big junior career, racing in multiple categories, almost every time in association with RedBull. He made his F1 debut in 2017 with Toro Rosso, replacing Daniil Kvyat for the Malaysian Grand Prix, as Red Bull wanted to evaluate him for a potential full-time drive with Toro Rosso for 2018. He did reasonably well in his debut and in the next Grand Prix in Japan and Toro Rosso wanted him to replace Sainz for the rest of the year, due to the Spaniards early move to Renault. Although, Gasly accepted the deal he skipped the Austin Grand Prix to race at the finale of the Super Formula season in Japan, as he was in the title fight. He returned to Toro Rosso for the remainder of the 2017 season, but didn’t manage to finish in the points.

For 2018 he was signed permanently for Toro Rosso, partnering another occasional Toro Rosso driver from last season, Brendon Hartley. It was the beginning of the eventually successful collaboration of Red Bull with Honda and Toro Rosso were the first to get a taste of the Japanese manufacturer’s engine. Although Gasly retired from his first race in Bahrain, he came back strong in Australia, finishing in 4th position and picking his first F1 points. The car didn’t prove capable of competing for points regularly and Gasly picked up just four more points finishes, eventually ending the season in 15th place.

RedBull’s shortage of talent, though, when Daniel Ricciardo chose to join Renault for 2019, led them to call up on Gasly again to be the team’s second driver, alongside Max Verstappen. While the car was nowhere near the dominant Mercedes, Verstappen was still able to fight for podiums and some wins. Gasly, on the other hand, never got in sync with the car and failed to even reach the podium in the first half of the season, with his best result being a 4th place finish in Silverstone. Gasly’s bad form prompted conversations amongst the RedBull management, who wanted to give Alex Albon a go in the first team instead. This move eventually happen, with Albon taking the RedBull seat and Gasly relegated to Toro Rosso. But Gasly’s results remained relatively the same with the Toro Rosso machinery and he managed his first ever podium in the chaotic Brazilian Grand Prix, celebrating it with all his heart.

For 2020, Gasly remained with Toro Rosso -now rebranded as AlphaTauri – with Daniil Kvyat back as his teammate. The car proved a quick one and Gasly scored many points finishes throughout the year. His highlight moment was his first win, which he achieved in Monza. It was quite an emotional moment for him as it was just one year and a bit, after his sudden relegation from Red Bull. With his confidence restored he enjoyed another good year in 2021 with Alpha Tauri. He had a new teammate in Yuki Tsunoda. with whom he established a great friendship, and picked up yet another podium with a third place in Baku.

In 2022 Alpha Tauri made steps backwards with the new car, under the new regulations. Gasly managed just six points finishes, with his highest position being a 5th place in Baku once again. At the end of the year, he decided to pursue a new path for his career, leaving Red Bull’s lines after 5 years in F1 associated with them and joined his compatriot Esteban Ocon to form an all-French team in Alpine.

Tears of Joy: Gasly’s Monza win

Having taken a jubilant podium in Brazil the previous year, Gasly was back for more with a competitive Alpha Tauri in 2020. In the Italian Grand Prix he was starting from 10th on the grid, but a series of events that led both Ferraris and Max Verstappen out of the race, as well as a 10 second stop-and-go penalty for race leader Lewis Hamilton, gave Gasly the lead. But with 25 laps remaining Gasly had to defend against former champion Kimi Raikkonen, as well as the quicker Mclaren of Carlos Sainz.

Defying all expactations, Gasly’s pace was enough to repell every attack and he won for Alpha Tauri on the same place the team had its only previous victory in 2008, as Toro Rosso, with Sebastian Vettel. An over-the-moon Gasly was seen crying in the podium letting go of all his emotion caused by his turbulent previous year.

Can there be friendships on the F1 paddock?

It’s common, they say, that you can’t make friendships with other drivers in F1. In Gasly’s case, though, this unwritten rule was proven wrong. In his last two years with Alpha Tauri he developed a great friendship with teammate Yuki Tsunoda, with whom he was seen walking on the track and talking all the time. The chemistry between them was made even more obvious by their common appearances in F1’s official YouTube account, whenever they had to participate as a team. Tsunoda revealed in an interview after Gasly’s move to Alpine that he learned a great deal from his collaboration with Gasly.

A descent of a Motorsport passionate family

Gasly’s roots to racing go back to his grandparents, both of whom where racing karts when they were young. His father, Jean-Jacques, was also a racing driver, though not a famous one. He raced in karts, endurance and rallying cars, but stopped after a scary rallying crash. Gasly has four more siblings, all boys, from his parents’ previous marriages. He is the younger of the five.

Gasly grew up with lots of French-speaking racing drivers, many of whom made it to F1. He is a friend of Charles Leclerc and used to be a friend of current teammate Esteban Ocon when they where younger. His biggest friend, though, was the late Anthoine Hubert, who died in the Belgian F2 race in 2019. Gasly visits Hubert’s crash site in Radillion corner of Spa-Francorchamps every year.

Gasly’s recent Romance and past Relationships

Although not very outspoken about his romantic life, Gasly has had lots of known relationships. From 2018 to 2020 he was in a relationship with aeronautical engineer Caterina Masetti Zannini. After Zannini Gasly dated model Katerina Berezhna, also Lando Norris‘-ex, for 2 years. Their relationship ended in 2022.

Since then he has appeared together with another model and influencer, Portuguese 19-year-old Francisca Cerqueira Gomes. Although seen together, they haven’t yet confirmed nor denied the rumors about a possible relationship.

Success brings Rewards: Gasly’s Net Worth, Salary and Personal Information

Gasly has one of the biggest salaries for an F1 driver outside the top 3 teams in F1. He reportedly earns around $5 million per year in his contract with Alpine. His net worth is around $33 million, after years on Red Bull’s payroll. He also has endorsements with headphone company, Bloom and Berger, and crypto company Crypto Gaming.

• Full name: Pierre Gasly
• DOB: 7th February 1996
• Age: 27
• Place of Birth: Rouen, France
• Nationality: French
• Team: Alpine F1 Team
• Race number: #10

From the Local Karting Track to the Top: How Did Gasly Reach Formula 1?

Gasly starting karting at the age of 10, in 2006. He managed high finishes in his first championships, winning his first karting championship in 2010. In 2011 he moved to French F4 Championship, finishing third and for 2012 he moved up to Formula Renault 2.0. He won the championship in his second season in 2013 and he was promoted in Formula Renault 3.5 in 2014, finishing second to the man he replaced in Toro Rosso in 2017, Carlos Sainz.

In 2014 he also raced in GP2 for some races, before moving full-time in the series in 2015 with DAMS. For his second full season in GP2 in 2016 he moved to Prema and he won the championship after an intense battle with future F1 rival Antonio Giovinazzi. He also raced for 2 races in the Formula E Championship with Renault e.dams, nearly finishing on the podium in his second race. In 2017 he competed in Japanese Super Formula, losing the championship to Hiroaki Ishiura for half a point.

A Fresh Challenge in 2023 as Gasly returns to a Factory team

Gasly signed with Alpine for 2023, returning to a full factory team for the first time since 2019. The Enstone team has the Renault engines and a good challenger for 2023, capable of being regularly in the points.

Bookmakers don’t really give Gasly much of a chance of bringing the title to Enstone, as the car doesn’t seem capable to do so. They give Gasly odds of 500/1 chance of winning. Although, compared to the other drivers Gasly is expected to finish within the Top10 in the standings, in a fight with his teammate Esteban Ocon.

We will side along with this prediction, as we predict Gasly to finish around 10th. Alpine’s package should be good enough for him to be in the points regularly and he could even pick the odd podium here and there. His fight is with his teammate, Ocon, though. As Ocon is the more senior within the ranks in Alpine, he might eventually win Gasly, but it should be a close and fun encounter.

Gasly’s comeback drive in Bahrain

The 2023 season started in Bahrain and already it was clear that the midfield teams were really close together performance wise. But Gasly’s start with Alpine wasn’t an ideal one at the Sakhir track that he managed to take his first ever points in F1 back in 2018. He qualified 20th and last in contrast to his teammate Ocon, who managed to reach the Q3. Although, come race day Gasly proved why you should never disgard him. He got a good start and won 3 places to be up to 17th and after this point he drove a beautiful race overtaking and out-strateging many drivers to come back and finish a strong 9th, after a battle with Alex Albon in the end. He gave the team’s first points of the year, after teammate Ocon suffered a mechanical failure and retired.

Same result, but a much easier job in Jeddah

Gasly went to the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix in Jeddah fresh from his good job in Bahrain, aiming for more and this time maybe in a more comfortable fashion. And that’s exactly what he got. He reached the Q3 this time, but only just, benefiting from Max Verstappen’s early exit with issues in Q2. Gasly managed to qualify 10th, losing again to teammate Ocon. This time, he couldn’t reach Ocon in the race, but he gave it a good try and after an uneventful race for him overall he finished in 9th two seconds behind teammate Ocon.

Never too late for disaster: Gasly and Alpine’s misery in Australia

The Australian Grand Prix in Albert Park proved a bipolar ride for both Gasly and Alpine. Pierre started well, qualifying in 9th place, with teammate Ocon eliminated in Q2. He got a good start and benefited from Charles Leclerc’s retirement to reach 7th place, when Alex Albon’s crash caused the race to be red flagged. As other drivers pitted, Gasly climbed up to 4th. In the restart he managed to remain in 4th, but soon got overtaken by George Russell who later suffered a mechanical failure, promoting Gasly in 4th again. Some laps later, though, Gasly got overtaken by the charging Carlos Sainz and then… disaster struck. With not much laps remaining Kevin Magnussen crashed and another -highly controversial- red flag came out. It was a restart for 2 laps and, although Gasly had the chance to even take a shot at the podium he got involved in the melee of the first turn and in the second corner he turned into his teammate, ending with both of them on the wall and out of the race. Another red flag came, but the final classification involved only drivers who could finish the race behind the safety car, meaning both Alpines missed the chance to take big points.

A weekend to forget in Baku for Gasly

After his late dissapointment in Australia, Gasly arrived in the Baku circuit wanting to make amends. But his weekend didn’t start well, after his car cought fire in the one and only practice session in the sprint weekend. After a great effort from his engineers, he managed to participate in the Friday’s qualifying for Sunday’s Race, but things got even worse when he crashed his car in the wall in Q1 and got eliminated, qualifying in 19th position. Saturday was a new day and in the sprint’s qualifying, the “Sprint Shootout”, he wanted to make amends but once again had a mechanical problem as he got an exhaust leak that hindered him. In the sprint race, though, he manage to pick up many places and finished 13th, but he got no points for his efforts. In Sunday’s race, he had a big mountain to climb starting from 17th, but Alpine wasn’t gentle with its tyres, meaning that Gasly pitted twice and for the biggest part of the race he was driving on the back of the field hoping for a safety car. It never came, though, and Gasly could only finish 14th, ahead of his teammate who had a torrid weekend too.

A much needed good result in Miami

After the consecutive dissapointments in both Australia and Baku, Gasly was desperate for a good result in the Miami track. Back to a “normal” and not a sprint weekend, it all started pretty bright for Pierre after he got a time on the board good enough to provisionally qualify 5th, before Charles Leclerc’s crash which ended the session, meaning he kept this place. In the start of the race, Gasly gained one position, up into 4th, passing Kevin Magnussen. He managed to keep this position, until the charging Max Verstappen reached him and passed him with too much ease, so much so that it oppened the door for George Russell too. After the pitstops, Gasly returned to 6th place, but the quicker cars of Leclerc and Hamilton catched him, with Gasly locking up and losing the place to Leclerc and being overtaken by Hamilton. He finished the race in 8th place, once again one place highed than teammate Ocon.

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