Biography of Formula 1 driver Pierre Gasly

Pierre Gasly was seemingly always destined for a career in motorsports given his family's history.

Born to Jean Jacques Gasly and mother Pascale, his grandfather competed in karting, something that he passed on to Pierre's father. Jean Jacques took part in karting, endurance racing and rallying.

His first experiences with karting came at the local Anneville-Ambourville track. He grew up with the late Anthoine Hubert, who competed with Gasly from the age of seven and attending the same private school together.

Here is everything you need to know about Pierre Gasly.

Early career

Gasly began competitive karting at the age of 10 in 2006, finishing 15th in the French Minime Championship and then fourth the following year. He made the move up to the international scene in 2009, finishing as the runner-up in the CIK-FIA European Championship at the end of 2010.

In 2011 the Frenchman moved to single-seaters, taking part in the French F4 Championship and then moving on to the Formula Renault Eurocup. Initially racing for R-ace GP, Gasly joined Tech 1 Racing in 2013 and won the championship after getting the better of Oliver Rowland in the championship fight. Gasly moved to the Formula Renault 3.5 Series in 2014, racing for Arden under the Red Bull Junior Team development program. He finished the season runner up to fellow Red Bull Junior Carlos Sainz.

Gasly made his GP2 Series debut in 2014 at Monza replacing Tom Dillmann at Caterham Racing. He then joined DAMS and finished his first season eight in the standings. After switching to Prema in 2016 where he partnered Antonio Giovinazzi, Gasly took the GP2 Series title that season.

Although brief, Gasly also raced in Formula E. The Frenchman replaced Sebastian Buemi for the 2017 New York ePrix due his compatriot's commitments at the World Endurance Championship. Gasly finished the opening race seventh after qualifying 19th, and he just missed out on a podium spot in the second race, hitting the wall of the final corner before limping over the line in fourth.

Formula 1

Gasly was named Red Bull reserve driver in September 2015, but he made his F1 debut for sister team Toro Rosso at the 2017 Malaysian Grand Prix, replacing Daniil Kvyat for a few races. He returned for the team in Mexico, partnering Brendon Hartley after the team decided to drop Kvyat from the programme.

The Frenchman and Hartley were made the full-time driver pairing for the 2018 season. After failing to finish in Australia, Gasly qualified sixth in Bahrain but was promoted to fifth after Lewis Hamilton was handed a penalty. The Frenchman scored his first F1 points in the race, crossing the line fourth.

That joy was short lived as Gasly crashed into Hartley the following race in China in what the two called a miscommunication. The Frenchman scored more points in Monaco, Hungary, Belgium and Mexico, ending the season 29 points - a full 25 clear of Hartley.

Short lived move to Red Bull

With Daniel Ricciardo moving to Renault, Gasly was promoted to the second Red Bull seat to partner Max Verstappen. The move proved difficult for the youngster, as he was consistently slower than his Dutch teammate and even lapped at several races.

Gasly only managed to out-qualify Verstappen in Canada, though that was in part due to a red flag. His best finish for the team came at the British Grand Prix, ending fourth after Verstappen and Sebastian Vettel were involved in a collision in front of him.

Team principal Christian Horner insisted Gasly would continue with the team for the remainder of the season, however he found himself down in sixth in the championship with 63 points. Meanwhile Verstappen sat at 181 points with two wins and five podiums.

As a result a change was made prior to the Belgian Grand Prix, with Gasly sent back to Toro Rosso and Alexander Albon making the move the other way.

The move seemed to revitalse Gasly, who finished in the points five times. His best result came at the Brazilian Grand Prix, when after qualifying in seventh he kept his nose clean in what was a chaotic race to finish second, keeping Lewis Hamilton at bay down the main straight on the last lap. It was his first podium finish and Toro Rosso's best result since the 2008 Italian Grand Prix.

Gasly finished the season seventh in the championship with 95 points.

Toro Rosso becomes AlphaTauri

Gasly remained with the team in 2020, however this time it was Toro Rosso that underwent a major change as he team rebranded and became AlphaTauri.

Partnered by Daniil Kvyat, the Frenchman secured four top 10 finishes over the course of the first seven races of the season. His best result over that time was a seventh place finish in Austria and Silverstone.

The big talking point came at the Italian Grand Prix. Gasly started down in 10th, however an early pit stop helped him past several driers who had to wait for the pitlane to open during the safety car procedure. As a result the Frenchman found himself third, however he eventually moved up to first after Hamilton pitted for a stop-go penalty and Lance Stroll ran wide at the Roggia chicane.

A late charge from McLaren's Carlos Sainz wasn't enough as Gasly took his first career F1 win in remarkable circumstances, becoming the 109th different winner and the first French driver to take the chequered flag since Olivier Paris back in 1996.

The result prompted speculation that Gasly might return to Red Bull, however the move never happened. Gasly finished the season in 10th place with 75 points.