It all started with the withdrawal of Sebastian Vettel. That seat at Aston Martin was filled by Fernando Alonso Y Oscar Piastri He went to McLaren to replace Daniel Ricciardo. And that position in the French team ended up being occupied by Pierre Gasleythen in AlphaTauri.
A true domino effect that ended up benefiting some and harming others. Gasly is one of the most benefited, leaving the subsidiary of Red Bull to go to a team Alpine which remains in the middle area.
And this move was Gasly’s “only chance” to stay in F1. This was stated by Franz Tost, AlphaTauri: “Red Bull did something very fair by releasing him from his contract so that he could sign for Alpine. It was something that was very clear to me, otherwise the risk of being left out of Formula 1 was very great”.
Speaking to ‘The Race’, he spoke about the relationship between Red Bull and Gasly: ”Red Bull made the decision not to get him back and Pierre wanted to go to another team with all the changes that were made. Sebastian was going to retire and Fernando was leaving. I was going to Aston Martin, this made one of the Alpine seats free. It was not easy to accept his departure…”.
“We lose a very experienced pilot that has brought a lot of success to the team, has helped us grow. It will be a great loss, I have no doubts and I am disappointed not to have him with us until the end of 2023″, comments Tost.
And he ends: “Of course, the circumstances were what they were and I realized that it did not make sense for him to continue with us. The risk of not having another opportunity in Formula 1 was there…”.
Gasly has ended up signing for Alpine and will share a team with Esteban Ocon. A complicated relationship between the two that goes back a long way, especially due to the rivalry that both shared from the lower categories.
