AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly has insisted that his comment ahead of the Belgian Grand Prix had nothing to do with his contractual situation going into next season.
Gasly has been heavily linked with a move to Alpine in the last week as the French side continue to look for a replacement for Fernando Alonso.
The Spaniard is moving on to Aston Martin next year in place of the retiring Sebastian Vettel, after he and the team could not agree terms on a new contract.
Alpine then announced that they had promoted reserve driver Oscar Piastri to the race seat alongside Esteban Ocon, but he is thought to have agreed to a deal with McLaren to replace Daniel Ricciardo.
READ: Christian Horner reacts to Pierre Gasly joining Alpine scenario
The contract recognition board (CRB) are now looking over the Australian’s contract with the Enstone-based squad to see if he is in breach by signing with another team, and therefore whether compensation is owed for the money Alpine have put into the 21-year-old’s career.
Among the front-runners are Ricciardo, who raced for Alpine under their Renault guise before joining McLaren, and Gasly, who is under contract at AlphaTauri until the end of next season.
The drivers were about to head out onto their track parade last weekend at Spa, and Gasly was speaking to Mercedes’ George Russell and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.
Russell mentioned something to do with marriage, and Gasly mentioned that he is “still working on the final details of the contract.”
The 26-year-old therefore assured ahead of this weekend’s Dutch Grand Prix that Formula 1 was not the topic of conversation last weekend.
“If you guys would have any idea of the subject we were talking about, you’d probably laugh,” said Gasly, quoted by Motorsport.com.
“I can guarantee you, it was nothing related to Formula 1.”
Gasly confirmed that the trio were taking about a “marriage or a wedding thing” and affirmed, “you guys can figure out it wasn’t car-related”.
Gasly previously indicated that he does not want to be part of the Red Bull system going into 2024 if he cannot be part of the main fold.
Sergio Perez is under contract with the Milton Keynes-based team until the end of that year, leaving Gasly, potentially, with nowhere to go at the end of 2023 unless he stays put with the junior outfit.
It therefore might be a good idea to try and wriggle out of AlphaTauri if the chance to join Alpine presents itself, but Red Bull adviser, Dr Helmut Marko, has previously insisted that there is no get-out clause for the Frenchman.
As of this moment, Gasly is committed to AlphaTauti until the end of next year.
READ: Pierre Gasly addresses Alpine rumour, opens up on tension with Esteban Ocon
“I said it last week, for next year currently I’m contracted for AlphaTauri,” he added.
“Everyone is aware of my contract situation. For now, nothing has changed.”
Gasly is 14th in the championship having scored 18 points in an underperforming AlphaTauri car this year.