Pierre Gasly has been a familiar face in Formula 1 for several years, having raced for only two teams: Red Bull and AlphaTauri. In 2023 he will leave the Red Bull umbrella and add a third team to his career, taking up the vacant spot left by Fernando Alonso at Alpine. Speaking exclusively to RacingNews365.com , Gasly confirms that his ties have been cut to make the move and that they can't recall him in the future: "Yes" he says, when asked about the topic. His brief tenure at the Red Bull senior team yielded lacklustre results, with qualifying performances regularly outside the top five and a best finish of fourth at the 2019 British Grand Prix. Upon his return to Toro Rosso (now AlphaTauri), he achieved a second place finish at Brazil in 2019, then went on to win his first Grand Prix at Monza in 2020. Does he see a potential return to the team in the future? "At the moment, we'll see. [But] for now it's 100% of my head in Alpine."
Gasly wanted to leave Red Bull better off
Gasly says he made sure all parties knew about his intentions before proceeding with the move to ensure he left the team in a good position. "All parties knew about it. It was clear between Alpine, Red Bull and myself. There were agreements which had to be made between all parties," said the Frenchman. "But it was very clear, it was just not a simple deal because obviously its not like Helmut [Marko] or Franz [Tost] would let me go without conditions. "They need a fast and competitive driver to replace me and give AlphaTuari what they need." That came in the form of Dutchman and recent Formula E World Champion Nyck de Vries, who impressed on his F1 debut at Monza this year. Gasly says it was important they found a driver of his calibre, given how much Red Bull has supported him over the years. He explained: "It was important for me not to just leave AlphaTauri and Red Bull and escape from the programme. "I'm grateful in they've given me in my career and that's why it was important that everybody finds what they require."
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