AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly has indicated that he would like to move on from the Red Bull junior team in the future, but he is happy to stay for another year.
The Frenchman made his debut with the Italian side, under their Toro Rosso guise, towards the end of 2017 when he replaced the struggling Daniil Kvyat, and after a fine 2018 campaign, he was promoted to the main fold in place of Daniel Ricciardo.
However, Gasly did not have an easy time alongside Max Verstappen, and he was dropped back down to the Faenza-based squad in favour of Alex Albon.
The 26-year-old has been at AlphaTauri ever since, and he has scored three podiums with Franz Tost’s team, one of which was a victory at the 2020 Italian Grand Prix.
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Gasly previously suggested that he was keen to leave and re-join Red Bull for the 2024 season, and if that is not possible, then he is set to leave when his Red Bull contract expires at the end of next year.
Sergio Perez has signed a new deal to stay at the Austrian team until the end of 2024, so there will be no room for Gasly.
As a result, he would be amenable to a move away from the Red Bull programme a year early, and Alpine have come knocking.
They are looking for a replacement for Fernando Alonso after Oscar Piastri decided to leave the programme, but there is no clause in Gasly’s contract, so the Enstone-based team would have to pay whatever price Red Bull ask for.
Whether they decide to do that, or go for another of their plentiful options, is not up to the Rouen-born driver.
“We’ll see, at the moment, this is out of my control,” Gasly told Sky Sports.
“And, it’s more something I’m trying to give my best to this team. We know the situation, I think [the situation with] Alpine is pretty clear, we have conversations.
“But these guys [AlphaTauri], they’ve given me my first win in F1 and given me my first chance in Formula 1, it doesn’t mean I’ve got to stay there all my life because my ambition in Formula 1 is to fight at the front.
“And that’s what I want, I have been five years with AlphaTauri… we’ll see if I do another year there, but at the moment, that’s what’s planned.
“And, if this is happening, I’ll give my 110 percent for this team, but at the moment, I don’t have more to comment on my situation.”
When pressed further, Gasly revealed that there are still moving parts that need to fall into place.
“At some point, I guess we’ll get some more news, but there are a couple of things which need to be sorted first before to talk more about this current situation,” he added.
“As it is now, I’m driving for AlphaTauri next year, I’m happy with that. In my situation, there is only positives, and we’ll see what happens over the next few weeks.”
For now, the aim for the 2016 GP2 champion is to ensure that he picks up as many points as he can with what has been an underperforming AlphaTauri car this year.
“Every weekend, we come with the same ambitions, same approach to fight for the points,” explained Gasly.
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“This year… it’s been a tough year. Last year we were fighting for the points every single weekend, this year we don’t have that confidence.
“We don’t have that competitiveness to do it race after race, but hopefully we can show another strong performance in Singapore and Suzuka, and that’s what we will try to achieve.”
Gasly is among names such as Daniel Ricciardo, Nyck de Vries and Jack Doohan in being considered for the Alpine drive.