Alpine eyes Gasly as Marko lines up Herta for AlphaTauri F1 role

In an even more unexpected development IndyCar star Colton Herta has been linked with a future at AlphaTauri.

Publicly Alpine team boss Otmar Szafnauer insists that the Enstone team won’t think about other drivers until the Contract Recognition Board discusses the Oscar Piastri case on Monday.

However, sources suggest that Alpine has already indicated its interest in Gasly to Red Bull.

The Frenchman was confirmed for 2023 by AlphaTauri on June 24, and thus any move to get him will have to involve a deal that will suit Red Bull, and inevitably a substantial payment.

While he is obviously regarded as a valuable member of AlphaTauri, the bigger picture is that the Faenza team is supposed to provide future drivers for Red Bull Racing.

Gasly had his chance in 2019 before being sent back to AlphaTauri, and it’s widely acknowledged in the paddock that RBR boss Christian Horner doesn’t envisage a future return for the 26-year-old to the senior outfit.

Given that scenario, Red Bull might be open to releasing Gasly if the terms of any deal were favourable, and there was momentum behind another candidate for the AlphaTauri seat that his departure it would leave vacant.

Some sources have indicated that Helmut Marko is considering Mick Schumacher, who is likely to be dropped by Haas.

A move to AlphaTauri would also mean that there was a high-profile German in the Red Bull camp ahead of Porsche’s arrival on the grid in 2026.

However, there have also been suggestions that Marko has an interest in Andretti Autosport’s IndyCar frontrunner Colton Herta, who also has a McLaren contract. Intriguingly, on Saturday afternoon at Spa the Red Bull motorsport boss was seen in conversation with McLaren CEO Zak Brown.

One obvious issue is that Herta currently doesn’t have a superlicence that would allow him to race in F1 in 2023.

But if that is addressed with an exception from the FIA and McLaren releases Herta, Gasly would be free to move to Alpine, and it would in turn take some heat off McLaren in terms of the Oscar Piastri situation.

Even if Herta is not able to race in 2023 and Gasly remains at AlphaTauri, the American could still join the Red Bull camp in a testing role with a view to a future graduation.

One complication in any Alpine deal is that Gasly is acknowledged as having an…