Alpine admit interest in poaching Pierre Gasly from Red Bull

Pierre Gasly has been heavily rumoured with a move to Alpine to make an all-French line-up with rival Esteban Ocon in 2023.

Pierre Gasly is one of the most spoken about drivers in the paddock currently, with the Frenchman edging ever closer to a move to Alpine.

However, the AlphaTauri driver has admitted that a “couple of things need to be sorted” before it can be announced.

Following the departure of Fernando Alonso and the embarrassing rejection by Oscar Piastri, Gasly has been top of Alpine’s list to replace the double World Champion.

Despite having signed a contract extension for 2023 with AlphaTauri, Red Bull advisor Dr Helmut Marko has revealed that they would be happy to let Gasly go, with Alpine having to pay an exit clause to get the Frenchman out of his deal with the Faenza-based team.

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Gasly hasn’t kept his desire to “fight at the front” a secret, with the 26-year-old seemingly wanting to prove any doubters wrong following his dreadful spell at Red Bull alongside Max Verstappen.

Since being dropped by the Austrians halfway through the 2019 season, Gasly has performed at a much higher level, which included a staggering victory at the 2020 Italian Grand Prix.

Alpine CEO Laurent Rossi is eager for the Enstone-based side to sign a “seasoned, effective driver who will score points right away”, something there is little doubt that Gasly would do.

Rossi is a fan of Gasly, who if they signed would make for an all-French line-up alongside Esteban Ocon.

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“Pierre is a very good driver,” the Alpine CEO said.

“He would be a good candidate for us.”

Gasly hasn’t hidden the fact that talks have taken place with Alpine, but the AlphaTauri driver admitted that what happens next season is out of his “control”.

Alpine are keeping the door open for other prospective candidates, including, F2 driver Jack Doohan, former Alfa Romeo driver Antonio Giovinazzi, and Mercedes reserve driver Nyck de Vries.

All three tested for Alpine at a three-day test at the Hungaroring; however, Gasly remains the leading candidate.

“At the moment this is out of my control,” Gasly told Sky Sports F1 in Monza.

“These guys [AlphaTauri] have given my first win in F1 and my first chance in Formula 1.

“It doesn’t mean I’m going to stay there all my life because my ambitions in Formula 1 are to fight at the front, and that’s what I want.

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“It’s been five years at AlphaTauri. We’ll see if I do another year there, but at the moment that’s what’s planned. If this is what happened I’ll give my 110 per cent to this team.

“There are a couple of things that need to be sorted first before we talk more about this situation. In my situation there are only positives. We’ll see what happens in the next few weeks.”

Should Gasly move to Enstone, then De Vries is the favourite to replace him, with the Dutchman who finished ninth on his recent last-minute debut at Monza, having confirmed that he flew to Austria to meet Marko.