Pierre Gasly

## Career Overview

### **Toro Rosso (2017 - 2018)**

Pierre Gasly made his F1 debut with Toro Rosso, as part of the Red Bull Driver programme. Gasly would end up as the first retirement of the 2017 season, as the Frenchman's Renault engine would shut down early on in the Australian Grand Prix. Gasly's first points would come at Russia, taking a 12th place finish. Gasly's best finish to date would come a Hungary, finishing 5th. Despite being the rookie in the team, he outscored senior teammate Carlos Sainz.

The STR-Honda of 2018 would prove to be woefully uncompetitive, Gasly taking the teams first points finish at the seventh round at his home race in France. Gasly would later double his points tally at the Singapore Grand Prix, finishing again in 11th. This would prove to be the final time Gasly would score in the season.

### **Red Bull (2019)**

After bettering Carlos Sainz and Niko Kari, Gasly was promoted to the senior team to replace Daniil Kvyat.

Gasly would have an encouraging opening round with Red Bull, starting from 4th and finishing just behind Verstappen in 7th come race end. Gasly could've been on course for his first podium finish in round 3, but an electrical fire put pay to that.

### **Mid-Season demotion back to Toro Rosso/ AlphaTauri (2019 - 2022)**

Albon was promoted to Red Bull at the weekend of the British Grand Prix, replacing Pierre Gasly who'd been dropped for poor performance. Until Verstappen won the Austrian Grand Prix, Gasly had been mostly on par with the Dutchman. This move was met with a lot of criticism, and to add to the mix, Niko Kari in the other Toro Rosso was having the better season over Albon, and was the sure fire number one driver at the team at the start of the season.

Gasly would make a statement of intent at the Belgian Grand Prix. The Frenchman would start from inside the top 10. Keeping out of trouble, he would run in 7th for much of the race. Late race contact however saw him drop to 8th. Both Verstappen and Albon drivers suffered reliability issues in the race, meaning Gasly finished the race as the lead of the Red Bull backed drivers, and only of the four in the points.

#### **2020**

Under the new AlphaTauri name, Gasly would struggle in the early rounds compared to new teammate Sergio Sette Camara. The high point of the season came at round 10. Gasly started on the front row for the British Grand Prix, and finished the race in 7th. Gasly took another 7th place finish at the Bahrain Grand Prix, making the most of late season upgrades. Gasly's and Sette Camara's best team result came at the Singapore Grand Prix. Both drivers started outside of the top 10, started on Mediums, and were able to do the race with one less stop than those in the top 10. Running in the top five for much of the race, the AlphaTauri drivers ran his own races to secure a crucial 15 points for the team. Gasly finishing in 5th, Sette Camara 6th.

#### **2021**

After coming good late last season, Pierre Gasly did just enough to hold onto his drive with the Italian squad.

The opening race would be the teams' best showing since 2016. Sette Camara and Gasly were very competitive on long and short runs. Good power from an improved Honda engine lead Sette Camara to finish on the podium for the first time in his career. A revitalized Pierre Gasly finished in 8th. A combined 17 points left AlphaTauri third in the Constructor's. The highest position the team had ever been under any guise. Round two brought with it a reality check, with Sette Camara finishing in 10th, behind Gasly in 8th. However, the Brazilian remained the lead Red Bull backed driver in the standings.

Gasly's best performance to date came at the Dutch Grand Prix, utilizing the low-drag nature of the AT02, the Frenchman finished 4th and lead Red Bull associated driver.

Gasly made a name for himself at the Italian Grand Prix. Starting on the front row for the first time in his career, a good start left him battling Max Verstappen into turn 1. The AlphaTauri was the fastest car in a straight line, and Gasly was able to keep himself in contention for the race win. Leading some laps towards the end of the race, Gasly fell to third but was less than half a second from the race victory.

During the British Grand Prix, both Gasly and Sette Camara would make contact, which would result in the Brazilian retiring on the spot. Gasly would also suffer damage, but was able to continue. The incident also involved the Toyota of Nobuharu Matsushita behind. A Safety Car was called out so the AT02 could be safely removed. Gasly soldiered on, but could only manage an 11th place finish.

Even with the shortened season, Gasly showed a huge upturn in pace, including podium finishes.

#### **2022**

It's unlikely Pierre Gasly will return to Red Bull any time soon, but he remains part of the family, the Frenchman with another season to show his skill, with early speculation that Alpine or McLaren are interested in him for 2024, if he can keep performing at the high level he's proven to be capable of.

Gasly put on an inspired display at the Japanese Grand Prix, battling Champions Lewis Hamilton and Josh Tirowee on his way to 7th place.

There was a mass-pileup during the Belgian Grand Prix involving Gasly. Most drivers made their one stop at the end of lap 10. Perez pitted for Hard tyres. At pit exit, his RB18 suffered a gearbox issue, as was stuck in second. The Mercedes behind of Russell plowed into Perez, shattering parts of the M13 all over the track. Unsighted drivers behind plowed into the wreckage. Russell, Gasly, Ocon, Albon and Matsushita all left behind their wrecked machines.

The four former would receive medical attention. The red flag was brought out, allowing Verstappen to hold the lead. Perez's fate wad sealed on the reconnaissance lap to the rolling restart, another gearbox issue holding the Mexican.

Gasly returned at AlphaTauri's second home race, the Elilia Romagna Grand Prix. His return race didn't go as planned, retiring behind the Safety Car mid-race after picking up debris from Zhou Guanyu's crash.

Pierre Gasly's upturn in from from Mexico continued at Miami. lap 20/29. Sergio Sette Camara was putting on an expert defense to hold onto 12th from Gasly and Wehrlein. Two laps later, Gasly broke through the Brazilian's defenses to secure 12th and the final point. This moved AlphaTauri one point ahead of their season long rivals Aston Martin.

### **Alpine (Present)**

Pierre Gasly finally broke free from the Red Bull family. After it was confirmed Josh Tirowee would fill the vacancy left left by Sergio Perez, the Frenchman explored his other options. Much like Tirowee, Gasly struggled with the new generation of cars, as was out performed by Yuki Tsunoda. Towards the end of the season, when it became clear Aston Martin were a threat to AlphaTauri for 9th in the Constructors, Gasly upped his game. The Frenchman took crucial points at the Mexican and Miami Grand Prix. This upturn in form attracted interest from Alpine. Initial talks were successful, and once Alonso confirmed his departure, a three year contract was signed. Gasly vowes to make late friend Antione Hubert proud in the team they no doubt could've been team mates in.

Las Vegas hosted the first of three Wildcard races, allocating 5 points for pole, and all 20 positions in the race. Gasly span on lap 13, blocking the track after the strip, and brought out the first Safety Car of the season, and only recovered to 17th.

Gasly secured a career best start of 3rd at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. However, it was downhill from there for the Frenchman. Gasly couldn't hold off Verstappen's offensive and dropped to 4th on lap 3. Norris showed an encouraging turn of speed and demoted Gasly further on lap 6. Russell was making up for a poor qualifying, and made a sweeping move around the outside of both Gasly and Norris through the new turn 7 on lap 9. Seeing Gasly's rapid descent through the top ten, Alpine switched the Frenchman to a two-stop. Both Gasly and Sainz found themselves with it all to do from the back. Gasly pit for a second time on lap 20. Alpine had genuine pace for the first time this season, and 2017 Champion Vergne used it to move into 5th on lap 23/29. Gasly finished outside the top 12.

Alpine finally showed pace during the Bahrain Grand Prix. Gasly has found a rhythm to top the final practice session. Vergne backed up a strong session for Alpine with 3rd. A magic lap from Leclerc secured pole from Gasly by a tenth.

Gasly challenged, but Leclerc held the lead. Leclerc pit at the end of lap 14 and maintained the net lead. Alpine again got creative with their strategy, and ran Gasly until lap 16 to have a tyre offset to Leclerc. Gasly closed the gap to Leclerc but ran out of laps to pass the Monegasque. Leclerc took the win by less than two tenths to the Alpine. Gasly's points haul moved Alpine to 5th ahead of a Williams team fighting one-handed.

Gasly secured his and the team's second podium of 2023 at the Dutch Grand Prix. The Hards weren't switching on for Norris in the overcast conditions, and the McLaren fell behind Gasly and Schumacher. Two laps later, Norris found himself at the mercy of Alonso. Gasly found plenty of pace on his Mediums and the Frechman demoted Piastri off the podium. The rookie fought back at the Alpine but ultimately had no answer. The Frenchman secured 3rd behind the Red Bulls.

## Racing Record (Formula One Results Only)

Results in **bold** indicate Championships won.