Gasly explains how "chaos" sparked AlphaTauri exit

Sam Hall
Wednesday 21 December 2022 10:00

Pierre Gasly has explained the "chaos" that led to his move from AlphaTauri to Alpine for the 2023 F1 season.

The French driver was part of the driver merry-go-round triggered when Sebastian Vettel announced his retirement in July.

The immediate consequence saw two-time champion Fernando Alonso join Aston Martin as Vettel's replacement, forcing Alpine to unveil Oscar Piastri as the man to take over from the 41-year-old Spanish driver.

Piastri's swift denial of the move sparked a tug-of-war between Alpine and McLaren that was finally resolved by the Contract Recognition Board which ruled in favour of the team from Woking.

Alpine then turned their attention to Gasly, who had a contract with AlphaTauri to the end of 2023.

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Asked if he had considered a move prior to Alonso's shock departure, Gasly told GPFans: “No, but you always look at the market.

"At some point, it looked more and more likely there was a chance that Daniel would keep his seat at McLaren, which meant that he would be out of contract at a similar time as me, so we'd both be ending our contracts at the end of 2023.

“And Fernando was offered a one-year contract to extend [with Alpine], so at that time, all the opportunities would open up for 2024.

“I was already signed with AlphaTauri to go until the end of my Red Bull contract, but the full picture completely changed from the moment Fernando left.

“That really triggered the whole chaos that followed after that, and in the end, it was a positive chaos for me because it turned out to bring an amazing opportunity and a very exciting collaboration with Alpine for the coming year.

“It was definitely unexpected, but for next season."

Conceding to the fact "there were always talks with Alpine", he added: "They've always been interested in the past, and always keeping an eye on my career.

"But let's say it became concrete from the moment that Fernando decided to pull the trigger and leave for Aston.”