The news, anticipated for quite some time now, has finally been released.
The Alpine F1 team has signed Pierre Gasly in a multi-year deal. Earlier in the season, their star driver Fernando Alonso announced that he would join Aston Martin for the 2023 season. The news came as a shock to not only the F1 community but to Alpine as well. The reason stated behind Alonso’s departure was because of the Spaniard’s contract dispute.
Alpine immediately announced their reserve driver Oscar Piastri for next season. However, that move proved to be a Fiasco as Piastri stated that he hadn’t signed any contract. Therefore the announcement made by Alpine was premature.
Later, Mclaren announced that they had signed Piastri, replacing Daniel Ricciardo, as Lando Norris’ teammate. Alpine took Mclaren to FIA’s contract recognition board as they said that Piastri had violated his deal with Alpine. After investigating Alpine’s and McLaren’s claims, the FIA voted in favor of Mclaren as Alpine didn’t have an ironclad agreement with Piastri.
So with Alonso gone and Piastri signed to their direct rivals for the 2022 season, Alpine had Pierre Gasly on their radar. The Alpha Tauri driver was willing to sign for the French team. However, he had to be released from his contract with Alpha Tauri first. The Frenchman was contracted to drive for the Red Bull sister team till 2023. Alpine had to pay Red Bull $10M to release Gasly from his current contract.
Gasly’s comments after his move to Alpine was announced
After the announcement was made official of Gasly Leaving the Alpha Tauri team, he expressed his joy in embarking on a new challenge. “I am delighted to join the Alpine family and begin this new chapter in my F1 career,” said Gasly.
“Driving for a team that has French roots is something extraordinary. “I know the strengths of Alpine, having raced against them over the past couple of years, and clearly, their progress and ambition are awe-inspiring.”
Gasly also thanked his current employers. In his message, he said: “I wish to thank Red Bull as this marks the end of our nine-year journey together. Thanks to their trust and support, I became a Formula 1 driver, and what we’ve achieved with Scuderia AlphaTauri over the last few years has been very special. Looking ahead, I want to give the maximum and utilize all my experience to fight for podiums and ultimately contribute to Alpine’s fight for championships in the future.”
