Pierre Jean-Jacques Gasly (French pronunciation: ; born 7 February 1996) is a French racing driver currently competing in Formula One for Alpine. He won the 2016 GP2 Series championship, and finished as runner-up in the 2014 Formula Renault 3.5 Series and the 2017 Super Formula Championship.
Gasly made his Formula One debut with Toro Rosso at the 2017 Malaysian Grand Prix. He moved to Red Bull Racing in 2019, before being demoted and replaced with Alexander Albon from Toro Rosso between the Hungarian and Belgian rounds. Regardless, Gasly achieved his first podium at the 2019 Brazilian Grand Prix, finishing second. He won at the 2020 Italian Grand Prix while driving for AlphaTauri, securing his maiden victory in Formula One. He would achieve another podium by finishing third at the 2021 Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
Gasly moved to Alpine for the 2023 season, scoring his fourth career podium by finishing third at the 2023 Dutch Grand Prix.
Personal life
Gasly was born in Rouen, France, to father Jean-Jacques Gasly and mother Pascale. Gasly is the youngest of five and has four half brothers: two maternal from his mother's previous marriage, Nicolas Caron and Cyril Caron; and two paternal from his father's previous marriage, Phillipe Gasly and Paul Gasly.
Gasly's family has long been involved in motorsports. His grandfather competed in karting, his grandmother a kart champion, and his father Jean Jacques has also competed in various categories of racing including karting, endurance racing and rallying. His father stopped rallying when he 'fell off [a] mountain' after his co-driver made a mistake reading the pace note. At the age of six, Gasly first experienced karting at a local karting track in Anneville-Ambourville. He was 13 years old when he left Rouen for Le Mans after his commitment for competitive racing.
Gasly grew up alongside Anthoine Hubert; karting with him since the age of seven, being educated at the same private school and having resided together as roommates for several years. He has been close friends with Charles Leclerc and Esteban Ocon since a young age. However, his relationship with Ocon deteriorated during their karting career. In 2019 he moved to Milan. Besides his native French, Gasly also speaks Italian and English. Gasly was seen supporting the Brisbane Broncos on his trip around the east coast of Australia.
Early career
Karting
Gasly entered competitive karting in 2006 at the age of ten, when he finished fifteenth in the French Minime Championship, before he finished fourth the following year. In 2008 he stepped up to the French Cadet Championship, before moving to the international scene in 2009. He moved into the KF3 category, staying until the end of 2010, when he finished as runner-up in the CIK-FIA European Championship.
Formula Renault
In 2011, Gasly made his début in single-seaters, taking part in the French F4 Championship 1.6-litre category. He finished third behind his future Eurocup rivals Matthieu Vaxivière and Andrea Pizzitola with seven podiums, including wins at Spa, Albi and Le Castellet.
Gasly moved to the 2-litre Formula Renault machinery in 2012, joining R-Ace GP in the Formula Renault Eurocup. He finished tenth with six point-scoring finishes, including podiums at Spa and the Nürburgring. He also had seven starts in the Formula Renault 2.0 Northern European Cup with the same team, taking a podium at the Nürburgring.
For 2013, Gasly moved to Tech 1 Racing. He took five podiums, as well as victories at Moscow, the Hungaroring and Le Castellet. He held an eleven-point lead over Oliver Rowland into the final meeting at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, and ultimately clinched the title with third and sixth-place finishes; the latter result coming after a collision with Rowland, who received a drive-through penalty as a result.
The driver jumped to Formula Renault 3.5 Series in 2014, where he was hired by Arden under the Red Bull Junior Team development program. He finished the season as runner-up to another Red Bull Junior Carlos Sainz Jr., collecting eight podiums in the seventeen races.
GP2 Series
Gasly made his GP2 Series debut in 2014 at Monza circuit in support of Italian Grand Prix, replacing Caterham Racing driver Tom Dillmann who had commitments at other racing series and was unable to participate in GP2 Series races for that weekend. He then partook in post-season testing, driving for DAMS and signed with the French team to race alongside the British driver Alex Lynn, development driver of Williams F1 Team. Though taking three pole positions and four podiums, Gasly experienced an uneven season, including causing collisions in Bahrain, Spa and Yas Marina (which got the subsequent race cancelled), which saw him finish eighth, two places behind teammate Lynn.
Gasly would switch to newcomers Prema Powerteam alongside 2015 European Formula 3 runner-up and GP2 rookie Antonio Giovinazzi for 2016. He would go on to become the GP2 Series champion that season.
Japanese Super Formula
After his success in GP2, Gasly joined Team Mugen, partnering Naoki Yamamoto, to drive a Red Bull-sponsored Honda at the 2017 Super Formula Championship. He won two races in a row before his season was effectively cut short by the cancellation of the final round at Suzuka Circuit due to Typhoon Lan. Gasly finished second in the standings, half a point from clinching the championship.
Formula E
Gasly made a one-off Formula E appearance for Renault e.dams where he replaced Sébastien Buemi for the 2017 New York ePrix, due to the latter's commitments to the World Endurance Championship. In the weekend's first race, Gasly recovered from the poor qualifying performance of 19th to finish seventh in his debut race. Gasly nearly finished on the podium in the second race, hitting the wall on the exit of the final corner while battling for third and limping across the finish line with major damage in fourth.
Formula One
In December 2013 it was announced that Gasly would be inducted into the Red Bull Junior Team for the 2014 Formula One season alongside future GP2 Series teammate Alex Lynn and future Scuderia Toro Rosso teammate Carlos Sainz Jr. Gasly's first experience in Formula One machinery came in May 2015 at the in-season test at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. He drove the Toro Rosso STR10 on the first day of the test and the Red Bull RB11 on the second day, recording 203 laps in total. He later tested the RB11 again at the Red Bull Ring in June and was officially named Red Bull Racing's reserve driver in September. Gasly continued testing for Red Bull and Toro Rosso during the 2016 and 2017 seasons.
Toro Rosso (2017–2018)
Gasly made his Formula One race debut at the 2017 Malaysian Grand Prix with Toro Rosso, replacing Daniil Kvyat. He finished the Malaysian and Japanese Grands Prix outside the points. Gasly was expected to take Carlos Sainz Jr.'s seat at the United States Grand Prix after Sainz left for Renault, but he was forced to miss the race due to a clash with the final round of the 2017 Super Formula Championship. He returned to the team for the Mexican Grand Prix, partnering with Brendon Hartley after the team decided to drop Kvyat from the Red Bull programme.
Gasly and Hartley became full-time Toro Rosso drivers for the 2018 season. At the Bahrain Grand Prix, Gasly qualified sixth but was promoted to fifth on the grid after a penalty for Lewis Hamilton. He finished the race in fourth place after Kimi Räikkönen retired, earning his first points finish in Formula One. A week later in China, he crashed into teammate Hartley in what the two confessed as being a 'miscommunication'. Gasly recorded four more points finishes during the season, including seventh place at Monaco and sixth place at Hungary. He ended the season in fifteenth place in the championship with 29 points, comfortably ahead of Hartley's total of four points.
Red Bull (2019)
Gasly was contracted to drive for Red Bull Racing for the 2019 season, partnering Max Verstappen following the departure of Daniel Ricciardo to Renault. Gasly qualified seventeenth at his first race with the team, the Australian Grand Prix and failed to score in the race. He again failed to qualify in the top ten at the following Bahrain Grand Prix, and retired from sixth place with a driveshaft issue at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. He scored points at the following six races but finished a lap behind the leaders at the Canadian, French and Austrian Grands Prix, the latter of which was won by Verstappen. His best result with Red Bull Racing came at the British Grand Prix where he finished fourth after Verstappen and Sebastian Vettel collided ahead. At the German Grand Prix, Gasly retired after colliding with Alex Albon's Toro Rosso in an attempt to overtake for sixth place.
Gasly came under increasing pressure at the Hungarian Grand Prix, where he finished sixth having been lapped by Verstappen. Despite Gasly's poor results, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner and advisor Helmut Marko stated that the team intended to keep Gasly until the end of the season. At this stage of the season, Gasly was sixth in the drivers' championship with 63 points. Verstappen, meanwhile, had recorded 181 points, two race wins, five podium finishes, and one pole position.
Return to Toro Rosso and maiden podium (2019)
Ahead of the Belgian Grand Prix, Gasly was demoted back to junior team Toro Rosso with Alex Albon taking his place at Red Bull. Red Bull stated that the swap was made in order to "make an informed decision as to who will drive alongside Max [Verstappen] in 2020", with Horner remarking that "we desperately need [Gasly] realising more of the potential of the car."
During the remainder of the season at Toro Rosso, partnering with Daniil Kvyat, Gasly achieved five points finishes, including ninth place at his first race back at the team at the Belgian Grand Prix. His best result came at the Brazilian Grand Prix, where he qualified in seventh place and took advantage of retirements from Valtteri Bottas and both Ferrari drivers, as well as a collision between Lewis Hamilton and Alex Albon, to finish the race in second place after holding off Hamilton in a straight drag to the finish line. This marked the first podium finish of Gasly's Formula One career, Toro Rosso's best race result since the 2008 Italian Grand Prix, and Honda's first 1–2 finish since the 1991 Japanese Grand Prix. On his cool-down lap, Gasly remarked over the radio: "This is the best day of my life". He ended the season seventh in the drivers' championship with 95 points; during his nine races back at Toro Rosso, he scored 32 points compared to 10 for teammate Kvyat in the same period.
AlphaTauri (2020–2022)
2020: Maiden win
Gasly was retained by the team, along with Kvyat, as they rebranded to Scuderia AlphaTauri. Gasly achieved four points finishes in the first seven races of the season, with best results of seventh place at the Austrian and British Grands Prix.
At the Italian Grand Prix, an early pit stop allowed Gasly to pass several drivers - who had to wait for the pitlane to open during a safety car procedure - promoting him to third place. As race leader Hamilton entered the pits to serve a penalty and second-placed driver Lance Stroll lost places at the restart, Gasly inherited the lead of the race and held off the late-charging Carlos Sainz Jr. to take his first win in Formula One, becoming the 109th different race winner and the first French driver to win a Grand Prix since Olivier Panis' victory at the 1996 Monaco Grand Prix, 24 years prior. This prompted speculation that Gasly could return to Red Bull, as his replacement, Alex Albon, finished only fifteenth. Gasly remarked that he was 'ready' to do so. AlphaTauri team principal Franz Tost praised Gasly's race but dismissed the possibility of Gasly returning to Red Bull in the near future.
Gasly was eliminated in a first-lap collision at the following race, the Tuscan Grand Prix. He scored points at the next three races, including fifth place at the Portuguese Grand Prix, but retired with a coolant leak at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix having qualified a season-best fourth. He finished the 2020 season tenth in the drivers' championship with 75 points, ahead of teammate Kvyat's 32 points.
2021
Gasly was retained by AlphaTauri for 2021, partnered by Japanese rookie Yuki Tsunoda. He qualified fifth for the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix but collided with Daniel Ricciardo and later retired from the race. He then scored points at the following six races, including his third career podium at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. He qualified fourth, dropped to fifth early in the race, but benefited from a tyre failure for Max Verstappen and a mistake from Lewis Hamilton in the closing stages and prevailed in a battle with Charles Leclerc on the penultimate lap to finish third. Gasly's points streak ended at the Styrian Grand Prix when he was eliminated by a first-lap collision with Leclerc. A late-race puncture at the British Grand Prix dropped Gasly out of the points positions.
At the Italian Grand Prix, Gasly crashed out in sprint qualifying after he made contact with Daniel Ricciardo, wedging his front wing underneath his wheels. He retired from the race on lap four due to damaged suspension. He finished sixth at the Turkish Grand Prix despite a penalty for causing a collision with Fernando Alonso. Gasly started on the front row for the first time at the Qatar Grand Prix but finished the race outside the points. Gasly finished the season ninth in the drivers' standings with his highest ever points tally in a single season, scoring 110 points to teammate Tsunoda's 32.
2022
Gasly continued to race for AlphaTauri in 2022 alongside Tsunoda. An engine fire caused his retirement from the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix. He scored points at the Saudi Arabian and Australian Grands Prix, but failed to do so at the following four races, which included retirement from a collision with Lando Norris at the Miami Grand Prix. He ended the zero-point streak by finishing fifth at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. Five more races without points followed, including a collision with teammate Tsunoda that ended his race at the British Grand Prix. Gasly qualified tenth at the Austrian Grand Prix but collided with Lewis Hamilton in the sprint and Sebastian Vettel in the race, finishing fifteenth.
He was set to start the Belgian Grand Prix from eighth place, however an electrical issue shortly before the race forced him to start from the pit lane. He recovered to the points positions, finishing ninth. His final points of the season came at the Italian and Singapore Grands Prix. Gasly had run in seventh place in Singapore, but complained that the team "threw away" this result by switching him to dry-weather tyres too early, dropping him to tenth. At the Japanese Grand Prix, Gasly criticised the deployment of a recovery tractor in wet conditions to extract Carlos Sainz Jr.'s crashed car, describing it as "disrespectful" to the memory of the late Jules Bianchi and stating "I could have killed myself". He received a penalty for speeding under the subsequent red flag and was demoted to eighteenth place. Gasly ended the season fourteenth in the drivers' championship, scoring 23 points to Tsunoda's 12.
After the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in June, AlphaTauri team principal Franz Tost confirmed that Gasly had a contract with the team and would remain with them for 2023. In August and September, information emerged that Alpine were targeting Gasly after Fernando Alonso and Oscar Piastri both left the team, and that Red Bull were willing to release him. Gasly's move to Alpine for 2023 was officially announced in October.
Alpine (2023–)
2023
Gasly signed a multi-year contract to race for Alpine in 2023, partnering fellow Frenchman and former karting rival Esteban Ocon. AlphaTauri allowed Gasly to join Alpine for the post-season testing immediately after the 2022 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
In his first race with Alpine at the Bahrain Grand Prix, Gasly started last after having his qualifying time deleted, but recovered to finish ninth in the race. Gasly was in fifth place when racing resumed after the second red flag at the Australian Grand Prix, but collided with Ocon at the first chicane, causing the retirement of both Alpine cars. His practice running at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix was curtailed by an engine fire. He later crashed in qualifying and failed to score points in the sprint or the main race. Gasly qualified in the top ten and scored points at the following three races; this included starting fifth on the grid at the Miami Grand Prix and qualifying fourth at the Spanish Grand Prix, before being demoted by two separate penalties for impeding.
Gasly next scored a point at the Austrian Grand Prix, where he finished ninth but was dropped one position for track limits infringements. Two retirements from collisions followed; one with Lance Stroll at the British Grand Prix and a multi-car accident on the opening lap of the Hungarian Grand Prix. He qualified sixth for the Belgian Grand Prix sprint and an early switch to intermediate tyres promoted him to third place, earning six points. He did not score in the main race, where he finished eleventh. His sprint podium was followed by a Grand Prix podium at the Dutch Grand Prix; he started twelfth and again benefited from an early stop for intermediate tyres. He crossed the finish line fourth but gained a place from Sergio Pérez's penalty, earning his first podium in over two years. Gasly achieved four more points finishes before the end of the season, including sixth-place finishes at the Singapore and United States Grands Prix. He started fourth at the Las Vegas Grand Prix but finished outside the points.
Gasly ended his first season with Alpine eleventh in the World Drivers' Championship with 62 points, one place and four points ahead of teammate Ocon.
2024
Gasly and Ocon remained at Alpine for 2024. They qualified in the bottom two positions for the Bahrain Grand Prix. Ocon had commented after pre-season testing that the team were "on the back foot" and Gasly described the Bahrain result as "not a surprise". Both drivers were again eliminated in the first qualifying session (Q1) at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix and Gasly was forced into retirement on the first lap of the race with gearbox issues.
Karting record
Karting career summary
Original Wikipedia article last retrieved on 02 May 2024.