Pierre Gasly recently signed a multi-year deal to remain at Alpine beyond the end of the season. Naturally, attention has now turned to the identity of his teammate.
Gasly has raced alongside Esteban Ocon since he joined from AlphaTauri at the start of 2023. But Alpine have agreed to part ways with the latter at the end of the season.
The French duo were close friends during their childhood before falling out amid their competition in karting. For the most part, Alpine have managed to keep a lid on any intra-team tension, but there have been occasional flashpoints.
They suffered a double DNF after a crash at the 2023 Australian Grand Prix, and more recently, they came together at the start of the race in Monaco. Ocon ignored the team’s instructions by attempting a late move down the inside of Portier on lap one, and the ensuing contact ended his race.
There have subsequently been disputes over team orders and on-track battles that strayed near the limit. The team may be inclined to prioritise stability as they form their next pairing.
Renault CEO Luca de Meo recently hired F1 veteran Flavio Briatore in an advisory role. And the Italian seems to be exerting a significant influence over the Enstone outfit’s driver search.
Pierre Gasly to keen race alongside Carlos Sainz at Alpine
Speaking to the official F1 site ahead of the British GP, Gasly appeared to call for Alpine to sign Carlos Sainz. He regards him as ‘the most valuable’ option available for 2025.
Sainz has reportedly stopped negotiating with rival suitors Williams as he considers Alpine’s offer. He met with Briatore in Monte Carlo earlier this week.
He’s won three Grands Prix during his career and his podium in Austria last time out was 23rd of his career. Gasly believes he could form a ‘great’ partnership with the Spaniard, who would ‘bring a lot to the team’.
He would also be pleased if they promoted reserve driver Jack Doohan or brought Mick Schumacher back to F1 from their WEC programme. Those two drivers reportedly went head-to-head in a test session this week.
“I can obviously see and tell, discussing with Bruno [Famin, team principal] and with management on trying to tell them what’s my personal opinion,” Gasly said. “I think it’s quite clear, Carlos is the most experienced and the most valuable guy out there.
“I would love to have him next to me next year. He’ll definitely bring a lot to the team and that would be a great pairing. But we also have some very good options – we’ve got Jack, we’ve got Mick who has been in F1.”
When Gasly called for Sainz to be ‘banned’
Gasly and Sainz both came into F1 through the Red Bull junior team. While they never directly competed in that environment, they’ve still had run-ins on track.
During qualifying for the 2023 Canadian GP, Sainz appeared to block Gasly as he approached the final chicane at high speed. The Alpine driver said over the radio he ‘should be banned for such a thing’.
Soon after, the two drivers went wheel-to-wheel at Silverstone, and Gasly was once again unhappy. He approached Sainz in the media pen to say ‘don’t squeeze me like that’.
But if there was any bad blood between the two at the time, it now looks as if they’ve moved on. With Alpine set to be ‘the new home’ for the departing Ferrari star, they could be the only midfield team with two race-winners in their line-up.
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