Pierre Gasly says it is a “much better feeling” to be racing with a factory team after moving to Alpine for the 2023 season.
Gasly joined Alpine after being released from his contract at AlphaTauri. He began his career with Red Bull’s junior team in 2017, when it was known as Toro Rosso. He briefly joined the senior team in 2019, but his disappointing results prompted Red Bull to reverse his promotion.
Speaking to media including RaceFans at the launch of the Alpine A523 in London, Gasly admitted he was pleased to be racing for a larger team once again.
“It’s much better, I’m not going to lie,” Gasly said. “It’s definitely a much better feeling and a much more exciting feeling. So I’m excited.
“I take this very seriously. I’m a very competitive person and I really hope that we’re going to be able to carry the momentum that they have had over the last year and and close the gap to the big three during this year.”
Gasly had a contract to remain at AlphaTauri for 2023, but arrived at Alpine following unexpected developments in the driver market at midseason last year. Alpine lost both Fernando Alonso, who left to join Aston Martin, and his intended replacement Oscar Piastri, who moved to McLaren.
Alpine therefore approached AlphaTauri who released Gasly to join them alongside Esteban Ocon for the 2023 season. Gasly says he does not feel under an additional pressure to perform while replacing double world champion Alonso.
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“I literally don’t look at Fernando at all,” he said. “He’s done this career – an incredible career – and I’m just looking at myself and my own career. I want to be world champion one day. I want to win races. I want to bring Alpine to the top and that’s all I’m focusing on.
“I think the team has learned a lot with Fernando, which is good, and will carry whatever they’ve taken from him going forward in the future. It’s up to us now with Esteban to work in the best way possible to keep that evolution and keep the progress we’ve been seeing over the last few years and close that gap with the top three.”
After completing a shakedown of the A532 at Silverstone with Ocon earlier in the week, Gasly will have just three days of pre-season testing in Bahrain before the season begins, which he will share with his team mate. He is confident that he will be fully up…
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