Biography of Formula 1 driver Pierre Gasly

Having had to fight his way to Formula 1, competing against the likes of Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc from a young age, Pierre Gasly was highly rated in his own right. His successes in the junior formula include winning the Eurocup Formula Renault Championship in 2013, the GP2 (now Formula 2) championship in 2016, and finishing second in the Japanese Super Formula Championship in 2017.

Signed to the Red Bull Junior Team Development Program Gasly made his Formula 1 debut with Torro Rosso (now AlphaTauri) at the 2017 Malaysian Grand Prix, he would go on to contest four more rounds in Japan, Mexico, Brazil, and Abu Dhabi before being confirmed by the team to partner Brendon Hartley for the 2018 season.

Gasly was immediately on the pace securing fourth place in Bahrain in just the season’s second round. The Frenchman followed this up with a seventh in Monaco and sixth in Hungary beating his teammate comprehensively in the standings. While the plan was for him to do a second season in the Torro Rosso, Daniel Ricciardo’s decision to leave Red Bull for Renault (now Alpine) meant he was promoted to the senior team in 2019.

Being teammates with Verstappen was always going to be a difficult ask for the young Frenchman. A pre-season testing crash dented his confidence in the car and by the time the season got underway, he was nowhere close to the driver who had impressed the paddock just a year ago. After being lapped by Verstappen at a couple of races and managing only a career-best matching fourth place at Silverstone, Gasly was dropped during the summer break in favour of Alex Albon.

AlphaTauri success

Despite being demoted back to Toro Rosso, Gasly went on to achieve his first podium in Formula 1, finishing second in Brazil dedicating his first podium in Formula 1 to his friend Anthoine Hubert, who unfortunately passed away in a Formula 2 racing accident earlier that year at the Belgian Grand Prix.

Regardless of his podium in Brazil, Gasly was asked to spend 2020 with Red Bull’s junior team, now titled AlphaTauri. One of the more wholesome storylines of the 2020 Formula 1 season was Gasly’s road to redemption. The season saw a revitalized Gasly consistently finish in the points before an astonishing result at the Italian Grand Prix saw him claim his first victory in Formula 1.

The 2021 season will see Gasly remain with AlphaTauri, though as the undisputed leader of the team a lot more will be expected of him.

Pierre Gasly in Formula 1

Pierre Gasly is only the second driver to win for AlphaTauri (Toro Rosso), the first was Sebastian Vettel who also won at Monza.

Gasly is also the first French driver to win a race since Olivier Panis won the 1996 Monaco Grand Prix.