“The speed, the fear, the adrenaline I felt that day were so intense that I can still remember them, even though 23 years have passed. I immediately fell in love with this sport.” This is how Pierre Gasly’s passion for motorsport began, behind the wheel of a kart at just six years old, following in the footsteps of his grandmother, a regional karting champion, and his grandfather, who also raced. Today, the French driver competes regularly in Formula 1—a dream he had from the very beginning—but his path to the top was far from straightforward. His performances in junior categories caught the attention of Red Bull, which included him in their junior program, allowing him to race in GP2, then the primary feeder series to F1, which was meant to secure him a future in the top tier. However, a direct promotion to Formula 1 after winning the series did not materialize until 2017, when he debuted with Toro Rosso. It would take another two years before he secured a full-time seat with Red Bull alongside Max Verstappen. His time at Milton Keynes, however, was brief, and he was soon demoted back to Toro Rosso. The return to the satellite team was made even more difficult by the death of his friend Anthoine Hubert, a tragedy that profoundly affected Gasly, as he revealed on the F1TV podcast “Off the Grid.” With determination and persistence, the Frenchman did not give up and achieved his best F1 results with Toro Rosso—later AlphaTauri—including a memorable win at Monza. Since 2023, he has been part of Alpine, with hopes of winning the World Championship in the next five years: “Hopefully, with Alpine, World Champion! I know it’s hard to accept. How can I say it if we are only fighting for a few points? But I believe that with the people we have, we can see ourselves at the front.”
Early karting and the first Red Bull opportunity
Like many Formula 1 drivers, Gasly’s first experiences behind the wheel were at the age of six, when he borrowed a kart from Esteban Ocon. “The speed, the fear, the adrenaline I felt that day were so intense that I can still remember them, even though 23 years have passed,” he told F1TV’s “Off the Grid” podcast. “I immediately fell in love with this sport.” From that moment, he never stopped racing, competing in several junior categories. His performances caught Red Bull’s attention, and he joined their junior program. With Prema Powerteam, Gasly raced and won GP2, then the main feeder series for Formula 1, in only his second full season. Yet, plans did not go as expected, and access to Formula 1 remained blocked. “It was really hard to accept because I was told: ‘If you win the GP2 championship, you will get a chance in Formula 1,’” he recalls. “It was like a slap in the face. I thought: ‘Okay, what else do I need to do?’ I kept thinking I would get my chance eventually.”
Breaking through and earning a full-time seat
That opportunity arrived the following year. After testing with Red Bull and Toro Rosso, advisor Helmut Marko called him to announce his Formula 1 debut with Milton Keynes: “I remember jumping on the bed in Malaysia,” Pierre Gasly recalls. “I started as a reserve driver for Red Bull. He called to tell me to get ready: ‘This weekend, you’ll race.’ When I got the news, I was overjoyed. I remember stepping onto the grid and realizing I had been given this chance. Everything was in my hands: the car, the team, the people. It was up to me, and I had control.”
In the constant lineup shuffle at Red Bull over the past decade, Gasly quickly made his mark. After just six months as a full-time driver, he achieved an outstanding P4 in the second race of 2018 with Toro Rosso, his first year as a full-time driver. “I did four or five races in 2017, and then started the 2018 season. In the second race—bang—P4 in Bahrain. It immediately caused a huge stir. Just after Budapest, Ricciardo announced he would leave Red Bull. I remember arriving in Greece for holidays and thinking: ‘Wow, Daniel is leaving.’” This result convinced the Milton Keynes team to bet on him for the post-Ricciardo seat, choosing him over Carlos Sainz: “It was a matter between me and Carlos. The phone rang, and Helmut told me: ‘Okay, you’ll be a Red Bull Racing driver at the start of next year.’ This was the sixth month of my first full F1 season.”
The brief Red Bull stint and the death of Anthoine Hubert
Pierre Gasly’s time at Red Bull, however, was not smooth, ending after about six months—a now familiar pattern at Milton Keynes, where drivers are sometimes replaced mid-season, as happened with Lawson in 2025. “I won’t lie: it was sad,” he admits. “In 2019, my second year in Formula 1, I received no support anywhere, in a very large team that supports Verstappen a lot, for good reasons, because he is the one counting on results.” From the start, the team clearly prioritized the Dutch driver in his third full year. Pierre Gasly, still young in the top category, was paired with inexperienced personnel, making it harder to perform in a fully optimized environment. “I started with an engineer straight from Formula E with no F1 experience. It was a strange dynamic. I wasn’t given the tools to give my best. I tried to fight my way because I wanted to, and ultimately, I’m there to give my all. They weren’t happy, and neither was I because I realized I couldn’t show my potential.”
It is no surprise that Pierre Gasly welcomed the demotion back to Toro Rosso with a sense of relief: “It was almost a relief,” he recalls, describing his first race back at the Belgian Grand Prix, where media questions focused on what had happened. “It wasn’t a good energy. I was there to do what I had to do and give my best, but there was so much negativity. I was going through it; I just wanted to drive. Then Saturday arrived…” During the F2 Sprint race, his childhood friend Anthoine Hubert tragically died in a track accident. “At first, I didn’t know who was involved,” Pierre Gasly remembers. “It seemed serious. The team manager told me it was Anthoine. As soon as the briefing ended, I ran to get more information. I saw my parents crying in the distance. Unfortunately, I immediately understood what had happened. School and parents teach you a lot, but they never tell you how to behave in these situations. The only thing I regret is that in Budapest, after the pre-summer break race, we went to party. I tried to find him, but couldn’t. I saw him on the terrace, greeted him, and said ‘Have a good summer, see you at Spa.’ I never saw him again before the accident. He taught me to appreciate the moment we live with the people we love and never take anything for granted.”
First podium and first victory
Gasly achieved his career-best results during his time at Toro Rosso, later AlphaTauri. In 2019, he earned his first Formula 1 podium in Brazil, crossing the line ahead of Lewis Hamilton, who would go on to win his seventh World Championship that season. The Interlagos result remains unforgettable, so much so that he has a painting of that race behind his couch in Milan: “People judged me too quickly because they didn’t know me or my mindset. This is my life. Thinking of that podium still makes me smile.” His personal and professional growth continued the following year, culminating in his first F1 victory with AlphaTauri. At a Monza devoid of fans due to Covid restrictions, Gasly reached the top step of the podium for the first time. The emotion overwhelmed him, and he cried on the podium, reflecting on the challenges and personal hardships he had overcome in recent years: “It was incredible, and that’s why I used that moment on the podium to process the millions of emotions and thoughts running through my mind. I was in my own world. I’ll carry those few seconds with me forever. It was a unique moment because Monza had never seemed so empty. It was a shame, but it gives me a good reason to win at Monza again!”
Present and future with Alpine
After the podium and victory, Gasly hoped to return to Red Bull, but Milton Keynes had other plans. For the Frenchman, an opportunity opened at Alpine, which he signed on the birthday of his late friend Hubert, an Alpine Academy driver: “I signed on the day of Anthoine’s birthday,” he recalls. “Anthoine was an Alpine Academy driver. Everything fell into place that day; I couldn’t believe it.” Here, he reunited with another old friend, Esteban Ocon, though tensions during their time together changed their relationship: “We used to spend Wednesdays and weekends together almost every week, going to each other’s houses. We had a strong bond. Unfortunately, there was a turning point during a race; from that point, everything collapsed dramatically. We know exactly where we came from, what we had to go through to succeed. We also both know it was positive to have that rivalry that pushed us beyond our potential. I have no doubt that in 10 or 20 years, we’ll be able to discuss and handle things differently.”
Despite this, they achieved the unthinkable: in Brazil 2024, both Alpine cars reached the podium. “In eight months, we went from last place to putting not one, but both cars on the podium. The faces of the team drivers were priceless. It was one of those races I’m sure I’ll remember as truly special at the end of my career.” Gasly established himself as the team leader, signing a six-year contract, while Ocon left Alpine for Haas. Now, after the first of those six years, Gasly sets ambitious goals for the future: “Hopefully, with Alpine, World Champion! I know it’s hard to accept. How can I say it if we are only fighting for a few points? But I believe that with the people we have, we can see ourselves at the front.”
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