F1 Future Watch: Pierre Gasly, Alpine – Pierre Gasly has not had the easiest journey to cement his seat on the F1 grid.
The talented Frenchmen had been part of the Red Bull Junior Team, used to find and develop the world’s best young drivers, since 2013.
His first opportunity in F1 came in 2017 for Red Bull’s sister team, Toro Rosso. This has been the place that Red Bull uses to judge their young talents in F1. This is where Vettel and Verstappen first made their impact in F1.
After several impressive results, Red Bull promoted Gasly to the main F1 team in 2019 to partner with Verstappen. Gasly had a total of 12 races at Red Bull. After some below-par results, he was demoted back to the Toro Rosso team.
It could be argued this move came too soon or the pressure of competing with Max became too much. The Red Bull number 2 driver is arguably the most difficult seat in F1. There have been a number of decisive, sometimes unfair changes in the team largely due to Red Bull having a choice of 4 drivers to pick from.
However, since this setback, Gasly has only continued to impress. After finishing 2nd place in the 2019 Brazilian Grand Prix and the rebranding of Toro Rosso to AlphaTauri in 2020, Gasly really nailed down his place in F1.
He claimed the only victory of his career at the 2020 Italian Grand Prix. It was a massive achievement to win a race in a reserve team car! Now at 26 years old, Gasly is at the point of his career where it’s best to move on from Red Bull.
It’s been confirmed that Gasly will be joining the French Alpine team, to partner fellow Frenchman Esteban Ocon on a multi-year contract from 2023 onwards. This is a great opportunity for Gasly, to join an ambitious and growing team who are currently the best of the rest (after Mercedes, Red Bull and Ferrari).
It’ll be quite interesting to see how Gasly and Ocon get on as teammates. Ocon and Gasly, who used to be childhood friends. They had a massive falling out in their teenage years and have had a poor relationship since. On the back of this news, they’ve agreed to move past this.
Ocon is an extremely difficult teammate to compete with, not only is he an excellent driver but also has a very aggressive driving style against his teammates. Gasly will have to handle this pressure, and he has the experience to do so.
It seems very difficult to imagine a situation where Gasly can become F1 World Champion, but with the right car there is no reason he cannot be a regular top 6 or even podium finisher.
Ocon and Gasly could become one of the strongest driving pairings on the grid for years to come. Gasly and Alpine will be one of the big stories of 2023, and I’m excited to see how it plays out. There will be fireworks one way or another!
F1 Future Watch: Pierre Gasly Cards Worth Collecting
In terms of trading cards for Pierre Gasly, F1, in general, is a fairly new market for sports cards with ever-growing interest. Topps is the exclusive rights holder of F1 as of 2020, meaning there are no cards from when Gasly was driving for Red Bull. These Red Bull cards would be extremely popular if available.
Gasly’s most popular and in-demand card is the driver portrait from the Topps Chrome and Sapphire released in 2020. Both cards have auto and non-auto versions. There is also Topps Dynasty with exclusive on-card autographs and driver memorabilia, which are highly desirable and have a low supply level.
His initial cards to be released through Turbo Attack, stickers, and of course Topps Chrome with Gasly in Alpine will be desirable and more popular with the interest and success this move should bring. However, they will not be available until 2024 due to the production time needed. Again, once these are released, they will be extremely popular.
F1 Future Watch: Pierre Gasly, Alpine – More Resources
F1 Future Watch: Pierre Gasly, Alpine – Image Gallery
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