Pierre Gasly

Pierre Jean-Jacques Gasly (; born 7 February 1996) is a French racing driver who competes in Formula One for Alpine. Gasly won the 2020 Italian Grand Prix with AlphaTauri.

Born and raised in Normandy, Gasly began competitive kart racing aged 10. Graduating to junior formulae in 2011, Gasly finished third in the French F4 Championship that year with the FFSA Academy. He won his first championship at the Formula Renault Eurocup in 2013 with Tech 1. Gasly then progressed to the GP2 Series, winning the championship in 2016 with Prema amid a close title battle with Antonio Giovinazzi. He moved to Super Formula the following year, finishing runner-up to Hiroaki Ishiura with Mugen, and debuted in Formula E at the New York City ePrix for Renault e.dams.

A member of the Red Bull Junior Team since 2014, Gasly made his Formula One debut with Toro Rosso at the 2017 Malaysian Grand Prix, replacing Daniil Kvyat for the remainder of the season. He completed a full-time move to Toro Rosso for , before being promoted to parent team Red Bull in . Gasly was demoted after the , replaced by Alexander Albon; he achieved his maiden podium at the that year with Toro Rosso. In , Gasly took his maiden victory at the whilst driving for the re-branded AlphaTauri. He achieved a third podium for the team at the in . Gasly moved to Alpine for his campaign, scoring his first podium for the team at the , repeating this feat at the rain-affected in .

As of the , Gasly has achieved race win, fastest laps and podiums in Formula One. Gasly is contracted to remain at Alpine until at least the end of the 2026 season.

Early and personal life

Pierre Jean-Jacques Gasly was born on 7 February 1996 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 was raised Christian and routinely makes the sign of the cross to bless himself before races.

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 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 has been dating Francisca Gomes since October 2022. Gomes is a model and influencer and she is signed to the Portugal-based modeling agency Central Models. The couple went official in the start of 2023.

Junior racing 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 switched to newcomers Prema Powerteam alongside 2015 European Formula 3 runner-up and GP2 rookie Antonio Giovinazzi for 2016. He went on to become the GP2 Series champion that season.

Formula One career

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 and seasons.

Toro Rosso (2017–2018)

2017

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 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 , partnering with Brendon Hartley after the team decided to drop Kvyat from the Red Bull programme.

2018

Gasly and Hartley became full-time Toro Rosso drivers for the season. At the , 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)

2019

Gasly was contracted to drive for Red Bull Racing for the season, partnering Max Verstappen following the departure of Daniel Ricciardo to Renault. Gasly qualified seventeenth at his first race with the team, the and failed to score in the race. He again failed to qualify in the top ten at the following , and retired from sixth place with a driveshaft issue at the . 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 where he finished fourth after Verstappen and Sebastian Vettel collided ahead. At the , 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 , 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 / AlphaTauri (2019–2022)

Ahead of the , 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 erstappenin 2020", with Horner remarking that "we desperately need aslyrealising 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 . His best result came at the , 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.

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 , 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 . He scored points at the next three races, including fifth place at the , but retired with a coolant leak at the 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 , partnered by Japanese rookie Yuki Tsunoda. He qualified fifth for the season-opening 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 . 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 when he was eliminated by a first-lap collision with Leclerc. A late-race puncture at the dropped Gasly out of the points positions.

At the , 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 despite a penalty for causing a collision with Fernando Alonso. Gasly started on the front row for the first time at the 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 alongside Tsunoda. An engine fire caused his retirement from the season-opening . 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 . He ended the zero-point streak by finishing fifth at the . Five more races without points followed, including a collision with teammate Tsunoda that ended his race at the . Gasly qualified tenth at the but collided with Lewis Hamilton in the sprint and Sebastian Vettel in the race, finishing fifteenth.

He was set to start the 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 , 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 . 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–present)

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 , 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 , but collided with Ocon at the first chicane, causing the retirement of both Alpine cars. His practice running at the 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 and qualifying fourth at the , before being demoted by two separate penalties for impeding.

Gasly next scored a point at the , where he finished ninth but was dropped one position for track limits infringements. Two retirements from collisions followed; one with Lance Stroll at the and a multi-car accident on the opening lap of the . He qualified sixth for the 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 ; 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 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 . They qualified in the bottom two positions for the . 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 and Gasly was forced into retirement on the first lap of the race with gearbox issues. Gasly finished no higher than 12th position at the Australian, Japanese, Chinese, Miami, and Emilia Romagna Grands Prix, failing to score points in any of those races. Gasly's teammate, Esteban Ocon, ran upgrades to the Alpine car during the Chinese weekend but Gasly did not, receiving the same upgrades at the Miami Grand Prix. He scored his first point of the season at the Monaco Grand Prix, coming in 10th position, and 2 points at the Canadian Grand Prix, coming in 9th. Gasly then went on to qualify in 7th for the Spanish Grand Prix, before finishing 9th in the main race, whilst grabbing another point at the Austrian Grand Prix. Gasly retired in the next two races at the British Grand Prix and Hungarian Grand Prix. Gasly bounced back at the Dutch Grand Prix with a 9th place and two points, before enduring a four race pointless streak across the Italian, Azerbaijan, Singapore and United States Grands Prix, qualifying sixth at the latter. He ended this run by scoring one point at the by finishing tenth. He had a high-scoring weekend at the , finishing seventh in the sprint, and third in a rain-affected Grand Prix after starting thirteenth, marking Gasly's fifth career podium and his first since the 2023 Dutch Grand Prix—the result promoted him from seventeenth to twelfth in the standings. He then qualified a career-best third for the , but retired from the race with a mechanical issue in his third retirement of the season. Gasly ended the season on a high however, as he finished 5th in Qatar after holding off Carlos Sainz in the latter stages, and 7th in Abu Dhabi. This would help Alpine beat Haas to 6th in the Constructors' Championship and Gasly to finish 10th in the Drivers' Championship, as he scored 34 points in the final 6 races of the campaign.

2025

In June 2024, Gasly extended his multi-year contract with Alpine until at least the end of 2026, this time partnering rookie Jack Doohan in place of the Haas-bound Ocon. He was disqualified from the after his A525 was found to be underweight.

Other racing

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 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.

Karting record

Karting career summary

Racing record

Racing career summary

Season still in progress.

Complete French F4 Championship results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

Complete Formula Renault 2.0 NEC results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

Complete Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

Complete Formula Renault 2.0 Alps Series results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

Complete Formula Renault 3.5 Series results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

Complete GP2 Series results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

Complete Formula E results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

Complete Super Formula results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

Complete Formula One results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in ''italics'' indicates fastest lap)

Did not finish, but was classified as he had completed more than 90% of the race distance.

Half points awarded as less than 75% of race distance was completed.

Season still in progress.

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Gasly, Pierre
1996 births
Living people
Sportspeople from Rouen
French racing drivers
French F4 Championship drivers
Formula One race winners
Formula Renault 2.0 NEC drivers
Formula Renault Eurocup drivers
Formula Renault 2.0 Alps drivers
World Series Formula V8 3.5 drivers
GP2 Series drivers
GP2 Series Champions
Super Formula drivers
Formula E drivers
French Formula One drivers
Toro Rosso Formula One drivers
Red Bull Formula One drivers
AlphaTauri Formula One drivers
Alpine Formula One drivers
French Twitch (service) streamers
R-ace GP drivers
Tech 1 Racing drivers
Arden International drivers
DAMS drivers
Prema Powerteam drivers
Mugen Motorsports drivers
Auto Sport Academy drivers
Caterham Racing drivers
Karting World Championship drivers
French expatriate sportspeople in Italy
21st-century French sportsmen