Pierre Gasly has sounded like a possible candidate for Alpine’s second seat after the departure of Fernando Alonso if Red Bull were willing to release him from his commitments with AlphaTauri, despite having a contract already signed for the 2023 Formula 1 season .
Inevitably, the prospect of him joining a French team has intrigued fans of the series, as his rivalry with compatriot Esteban Ocon is well known, dating back to his time in karting.
It might seem that neither of them would accept being the other’s partner, but the one from Évreux insists that he is open to the idea. “We respect each other, I think that’s the important thing,” Ocon told Motorsport.com when the possibility of sharing a team with Gasly was put on the table.
“Yes”, he replied when asked if two French pilots could work together. Meanwhile, the still member of AlphaTauri downplayed the rumors that place him in Alpine in the next course.
“Really, I have nothing to comment for now,” he said after qualifying for the Belgian Grand Prix. “I am focused on doing the best job possible this weekend. I have a contract, and for all I know, and what everyone else knows, I have been announced as an AlphaTauri driver to drive next year.”
Both drivers have known each other from an early age, when they shared asphalt in karting, even their families knew each other, as Esteban Ocon explained before Pierre Gasly made his Formula 1 debut back in 2017: “When I was very young, maybe seven or eight years, my parents were friends of theirs.
“One day I was driving the kart, and he was playing football. So my father said to him, ‘why don’t you try Esteban’s kart?’, and after that he quit football, so we’ve known each other since the beginning of my career,” said Alpine.
Then, as their paths paralleled, they drifted apart, and Gasly hinted that this was because he began to beat his compatriot. Ocon commented that he would be delighted with any team-mate who arrived at Enstone, although he made it clear that his favorite was Mick Schumacher, who is a good friend.
“In the end it doesn’t matter who’s by my side,” he said. “I’m going to keep up the work I’m doing with my team, continue to understand the car and the progress we’ve made since I joined in 2020 has been massive.”
“It’s not my decision, but, yes, I would be very happy to work with Mick [Schumacher],” Ocon said. “He’s a good friend, although it’s up to the team to decide, not me. But if that turns out to be the case, it’s definitely going to be a great adventure.”
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