Six years after his debut in Formula 1 (F1), the French pilot Pierre Gasly, 27, joins a tricolor team this season: Alpine, which belongs to the manufacturer Renault. Alongside his ex-“best enemy” and compatriot Esteban Ocon, he begins his new adventure on Sunday March 5 at the Bahrain Grand Prix, the first race of the 2023 championship. , Saturday, the last place of the first qualifications of the season.
With your arrival, we talk a lot about Alpine as the 100% French team. Does this matter to you?
It is a great pride to work with Alpine. When I started watching Formula 1 as a child in the 2000s, [Fernando] Alonso was crowned world champion with Renault [en 2005 et 2006]. I also won in Formula Renault in 2013 [une compétition européenne qui était organisée par le constructeur]. As a Frenchman, there is always a certain attachment to this team. Since my arrival in F1, I have kept a special relationship with her.
The tricolor DNA is very present there: half of the team is in Viry-Châtillon [dans l’Essonne], the other in England. Many French people work in the stable. And then, with Esteban [Ocon]it’s a 100% French trio and it shows.
With the exception of an Italian chef…
Yes, but who cooks very well (smile).
Laurent Rossi, managing director of Alpine, describes the team’s race to the heights of F1 as “a marathon rather than a sprint”. In 2022, he estimated that she could join the fight for the titles in five years. Do you manage to remain patient when you are an excessively competitive driver?
F1 taught me how to be. When I arrived in the discipline [en 2017], I was not at all. I used to fight for victory and championships in almost every category I went through.
Then you realize that it’s a sport that depends a lot on the machine you’re given. In order not to be frustrated, you have to understand that it is the progression that is important. You have to be patient and learn to maximize and constantly evolve. Alpine does a good job on all of that. Even if everything was not perfect, the team went from fifth to fourth place, between 2021 and 2022.
At Alpha Tauri, your previous team, last season was complicated with a ninth place out of ten in the team rankings. Joining Alpine is a real progression…
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