Alpine will have an entirely French driver pairing in 2023 after confirming the signing of Pierre Gasly. The still member of AlphaTauri will join Esteban Ocon after the departure of Fernando Alonso and Oscar Piastri.
It ends the ‘Alpine soap opera‘ after more than two months of crisis: Pierre Gasly will be Fernando Alonso’s replacement in 2023. It all started when on August 1 the Spanish driver confirmed his signing for Aston Martin for next season.
But when everything really got complicated was when, the next day, Alpine announced Oscar Piastri as the team’s new official driver and, hours later, the young Australian denied that this was going to happen.
Later we learned that on July 4 Piastri had signed a two-year deal with McLaren and that any document previously signed with Alpine was insufficient to retain him. This has forced the Anglo-French team to look for a replacement and has already found it.
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Pierre Gasly is released from Red Bull
After making his debut for Toro Rosso at the 2017 Malaysian Grand Prix in place of Daniil Kvyat, Pierre Gasly convinced Helmut Marko and Christian Horner to have an opportunity at Red Bull Racing as a replacement for Daniel Ricciardo.
The Australian had left for Renault and Max Verstappen needed a colleague to help the team challenge Mercedes. Nevertheless, Gasly did not last more than 9 Grand Prix before being traded for Alexander Albon.
Since then, Gasly has improved as a driver and gained in consistency, but the doors to Red Bull have remained permanently closed to him. As a consequence of this, the french has tried to disassociate himself from the austrian brand on several occasions, but only now has it been possible.
Despite being confirmed last June as head of AlphaTauri for 2023, this time Helmut Marko has agreed to release a pilot who was not going to progress further in the Anglo-Austrian structure.
So, Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon they will form an entirely French pairing at Alpine, which with this move definitively closes a very turbulent period of the season and is now focused exclusively on trying to secure fourth place in the constructors’ championship.
Thanks to Red Bull
“I am delighted to join the Alpine family and start this new chapter in my Formula 1 career,” said Pierre Gasly in the official statement. “Driving for a team that has French roots is something very special”.
“I know Alpine’s strengths having raced against them in recent years and clearly their progress and ambition is very impressive. I want to thank Red Bull as this marks the end of our 9-year journey together.”has pointed out the still pilot of AlphaTauri.
“Thanks to their trust and support, I became a Formula 1 driver, and what we have achieved with Scuderia AlphaTauri in recent years has been very special. Looking to the future I want to give my best and use all my experience to fight for the podiums and ultimately contribute to Alpine’s fight for championships in the future.”
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Alpine F1 Team
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Photos: Alpine F1 Team