The arrival of Pierre Gasly positions the French outfit for a new era.
With Fernando Alonso as their plan A, Alpine appeared to favor short-term solutions to their driver line-up. At the time, the signing of the Spanish champion was an attempt to fill a Daniel Riccardo-sized hole in the team. Now, Alpine looks ready to move on from half-measured signings onto a long-term plan.
Pierre Gasly is joining the Renault-powered racing team Alpine. The deal is multi-year, giving the team and driver stability in the future. The French outfit is paying 10 million dollars to release Gasly from AlphaTauri.
Alpine holds high hopes of contending for race wins in a few years. They are an engine manufacturer with the ability to craft a title-challenging engine. The team made significant strides this year, pushing for a Top 4 spot. The car carries pace, and if Alpine can fix their reliability woes, I would not be surprised if they can break through and finish top 3 one of these seasons.
The French team’s goal is to contend within 100 races, building their facilities and driver line-up to make continued progress: Alpine hired Otmar Szafnauer, an experienced team principal who made the most of spare parts at Forza India.
Looking to build step by step, it was always peculiar why a team looking into the future backed a driver so old as Fernando Alonso. Alpine created a plan centered around Alonso. He would push the team up the grid while Ocon developed his racecraft. Once Alonso lost some paces, a younger driver would take over.
The plan succeeded as Ocon has taken massive strides as a driver this year, one of Alonso’s most competitive teammates. Without the DNFs this year, Alonso would be with the Mercedes drivers.
Oscar Piastri always seemed like their choice for the future, but after getting poached by McLaren and Alonso to Aston Martin, their intriguing plan became no. The team lost their bridge driver and developmental driver all in one go.
Gasly is entering his physical prime at 26 after roughing his edges at Red Bull’s senior team. He displayed maturity returning to AlphaTauri and leading the team to over-perform their expectations.
Alpine needed a quick pivot from their plan, an urgent move to recapture the seriousness of their project.
Getting past the top 3 is a seemingly impossible feat for Alpine, but with the cost cap and wind tunnel time allocations, it is more feasible than ever for a team to challenge Mercedes, Red Bull, and Ferrari. Alpine can use the new engine regulations of 2026, along with their strong adaption to the 2022 regulations, to pose a more serious project that Reanult offered Riccardo.
Gasly’s transfer to Alpine is his move away from the Red Bull system; he is joining a team based in his home country of France. Alpine now has two french drivers, a considerable activity strictly in marketing.
Gasly, at the age of 26, is no longer a young prospect like he was during his run at Red Bull’s senior team. He is entering his prime years as an athlete, and wasting more years at Alpha Tauri would stagnate his career longer than it already has.
Pierre does not force the issue, often avoiding careless mistakes and taking the patient route when attempting an overtake. Gasly’s pace still has a way to go, but his race win a few years ago proves what he can do when put in a competitive position.
With a great year in 2021, Pierre looked positioned for a call-up to the senior team to replace Checo Perez, but Perez’s contract extension means that seat will not be available for the next few years. A move to McLaren looked promising, joining a solid midfield team with ambitions of a title-challenging car in a few years.
Instead, Gasly struggled to adjust to this year’s regulations, and his slow start led McLaren to poach Alpine’s reserve driver, Oscar Piastri.
Nowhere else to go, Gasly signed on for 2023 at AlphaTauri, treading water until the right opportunity for his career came along.
His prospects did not look great, Ferrari seemed comfortable with their line-up, and Red Bull featured a giant academy of drivers and a solid veteran in Checo Perez. Mercedes are hugely committed to George Russell as the team’s future, and Lewis Hamilton sounds like he is going nowhere soon.
If Gasly wanted to contend, his best gamble was always a midfield team like Alpine.
Gasly is taking a risk, but a calculated one allows for potentially glorious returns. Even if Alpine does not become a challenger, Gasly could move up the grid later. Alpine is also placing a massive bet that Gasly learned from his time on the Red Bull senior team. Esteban Ocon, a French driver with years on the team, is the team’s cornerstone. C
onsidering both of their documented tricky past, keeping the ego of two young, bold drivers will be demanding for Alpine. TommoF1 noted their young carting rivalry.
Alpine and Gasly both need each other. Their marriage is not perfect; both are taking risks and accommodating certain aspects of their plans to come together.
Alpine is risking their drivers clashing and banking on the development that Pierre showed at Alphatarui. Gasly hopes Alpine is a worthwhile project as a mid-table team and that they are willing to treat him as a cornerstone of the project.
Due to the sudden move, not much long-term planning occurred either. Both parties were desperate and in a position of weakness. Still, both Gasly and Alpine are in a much better spot than they were a few months ago.
Something is brewing at Alpine in these next few years. Either a French revolution akin to 1789 or another underwhelming mid-table push.
Only time will tell how the marriage between Alpine and Gasly will go, but like the storming of the Bastille, it signals a team tired of treading water.
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