Gasly quickly became Alpine ‘s number one target after Fernando Alonso announced his move to Aston Martin and Oscar Piastri decided to join McLaren.
The negotiations were complex because Red Bull had to secure a replacement for Gasly at AlphaTauri, and because the energy drinks company put a high price on the French driver, who had one year left on his contract.
Gasly believes that Alpine is the ideal destination for him as the team has been building momentum.
“The opportunity came up in the summer and we started having conversations about it,” he said.
“Obviously it’s a big change for me, I’ve been with Red Bull for nine years, almost my entire career with them.
“It’s definitely like closing a chapter and starting a new journey. For me, I must say, it felt like a natural fit and very quickly I believed it was the right decision to make.”
“It was based on where I am in my career, Alpine’s ambition and their progress in recent years. Every season they get better and better, they have that strategy to fight at the front after 100 grands prix, And they’re heading in the right direction.”
“For me, it was also the right time to take off on my own, to take this opportunity with a manufacturer. I definitely believe in this project, and I’m really looking forward to it.”
Pierre Gasly said it was key that Alpine made it clear from the start that he was the number one choice, and that the Enstone outfit had to work so hard to get Red Bull to let him go.
“That was definitely one of the, shall we say, most important criteria for me. What made it very clear to me that I had to go there was how strong his will was to get me out of Red Bull and into his car.
“They made it very clear from the beginning that they had to work very hard in terms of negotiations, it was not an easy agreement to reach between all the parties involved.”
“And I felt that from the beginning they tried very hard to get me, and that they really believed in that project.”
