Pierre Gasly knew it was the right time to move away from Scuderia AlphaTauri and join the BWT Alpine F1 Team for the 2023 FIA Formula 1 World Championship season, with the Frenchman feeling he had hit the ceiling with the Faenza-based team.
Gasly had already been informed that 2023 would be his last season with AlphaTauri, and with the line-up at the sister Oracle Red Bull Racing squad filled up until at least 2024, he knew that he would have to make the decision about where his future lies sooner rather than later.
When Alpine came calling, Gasly was immediately interested in joining the Enstone-based team alongside countryman Esteban Ocon, believing he has a better opportunity to fight for bigger points with them rather than with AlphaTauri.
Gasly said he was not satisfied about fighting over the minor points paying positions, so to further his career, moving to Alpine was going to be the best opportunity for him.
“I think at the stage of my career, with the experience that I’ve gathered over the last few years, definitely,” Gasly said to GPFans.com. “It’s definitely the time to move forward, also with the fact that Red Bull is also sealed until the end of 2024.
“For me, it was like I’m hitting the ceiling, I’m not going to go up, and I told them that I’m not a driver who’s going to be satisfied in just finishing in the top ten, fighting for eighth or tenth.
“That’s not what I’m working for. That’s not my motivation every day, and I need more than that, I want more than that. I think he [Franz Tost] understood.
“When the opportunity came, we explained to him how important it was for my career, for me personally, and I’ve given my best to this team, my absolute best.”
Gasly admits that he was all set to remain with AlphaTauri in 2023 up until Fernando Alonso’s departure from Alpine, but his move set in motion a number of changes on the Formula 1 grid, including Oscar Piastri’s move from Alpine reserve driver to the McLaren F1 Team in place of Daniel Ricciardo.
“At some point, it looked more and more likely there was a chance that Daniel would keep his seat at McLaren, which meant that he would be out of contract at a similar time as me, so we’d both be ending our contracts at the end of 2023,” Gasly said.
“And Fernando was offered a one-year contract to extend [with Alpine], so at that time, all the opportunities would open up for 2024. I was already signed with AlphaTauri to go until the end of my Red Bull contract, but the full picture completely changed from the moment Fernando left.
“That really triggered the whole chaos that followed after that, and in the end, it was a positive chaos for me because it turned out to bring an amazing opportunity and a very exciting collaboration with Alpine for the coming year.
“It was definitely unexpected, but for next season.”
