The time is right to leave Red Bull, said Pierre Gasly. What did the French driver say about his move to Alpine?

As confirmed recently, Pierre Gasly will leave AlphaTauri and the entire Red Bull company to join Alpino next season. He will ride alongside Esteban Ocon at the French team. How has Gasly commented on his transfer?

It was a big transfer saga – Fernando Alonso announced his departure from the Alpine stable in the summer, whereupon the French team subsequently confirmed Oscar Piastri as their new driver. And that was without Alpine actually informing Piastri.

In less than an hour, the young and very talented rider made it clear via his twitter account that he will “definitely not ride for Alpine in the 2023 season”.

The winner of the Formula 3 and Formula 2 championships was first branded a traitor. But then it was revealed that the whole situation was actually due to a huge mistake by Alpine. The youngster was not contractually obliged to drive.

Nothing prevented Piastri from subsequently confirming his move to McLaren, who in turn made an official announcement about ending his collaboration with Daniel Ricciardo. Alpine thus suddenly had neither Piastri nor Alonso.

Gasly as the obvious and logical choice

So after this debacle, the French stable didn’t have many ideal options left. However, the transfer of Gasly from AlphaTauri to Alpino is a win-win situation. The factory team will gain a very good driver and the 26-year-old will find his lost motivation in Alpino.

However, the negotiations were very difficult. Red Bull, or AlphaTauri as a sister team, had to confirm his successor, with the Austrian team putting a hefty price tag on Gasly. The French driver still had one year left on his contract.

Gasly’s statement

“This opportunity came up in the summer and that’s when we started talking about it. It’s obviously a big step for me, I’ve been at Red Bull for nine years, practically my whole career,” said Gasly, quoted by Motorsport.

“It’s definitely like closing a chapter and starting a new journey. I have to say it was a natural and very quick decision for me,” he explained.

“And that’s already based on where I am in my career, based on Alpine’s ambitions, based on their progress over the last few years. By getting better and better every season, they have this strategy to fight at the front of the grid in the next 100 Grand Prix. They are moving in the right direction,” he added. Gasly.

F1, Motorsport, Twitter – Pierre Gasly