Pierre Gasly

Pierre Gasly (French pronunciation: ​[pjɛʁ ɡasli]; born 7 February 1996) is a French racing driver, currently racing in Formula One for Scuderia AlphaTauri. He is the 2016 GP2 Series champion, and the runner-up in the 2014 Formula Renault 3.5 Series and the 2017 Super Formula Championship. He made his Formula One début with Toro Rosso at the 2017 Malaysian Grand Prix.[3] He moved to Red Bull Racing in 2019, before moving back after trading with Alexander Albon from Toro Rosso between the Hungarian and Belgian rounds to partner Daniil Kvyat.[4]

Pierre Gasly

Gasly in 2019
Born	(1996-02-07) 7 February 1996 Rouen, France
Formula One World Championship career
Nationality	French
2020 team	AlphaTauri-Honda[1][2]
Car number	10
Entries	53 (53 starts)
Championships	0
Wins	0
Podiums	1
Career points	138
Pole positions	0
Fastest laps	2
First entry	2017 Malaysian Grand Prix
Last entry	2020 Spanish Grand Prix
2019 position	7th (95 pts)
Website	Official website
Previous series
2017 2014–16 2014 2013 2012–13 2012 2011	Super Formula GP2 Series Formula Renault 3.5 Series Formula Renault 2.0 Alps Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 Formula Renault 2.0 NEC French F4 Championship
Championship titles
2016 2013	GP2 Series Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0

Career

Karting

Gasly entered karting in 2006, when he finished fifteenth in the French Minime Championship,[5] before he finished fourth the following year.[6] In 2008 he stepped up to the French Cadet Championship,[7] 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.[8]

Formula Renault

Pierre Gasly in Motorland Aragón, 2014

In 2011, Gasly made his début in single-seaters, taking part in the French F4 Championship 1.6-litre category.[9] He finished third behind his future Eurocup rivals Matthieu Vaxivière and Andrea Pizzitola with seven podiums, including wins at Spa, Albi and Le Castellet.[10]

Gasly moved to the 2-litre Formula Renault machinery in 2012, joining R-Ace GP in the Formula Renault Eurocup.[11] He finished tenth with six point-scoring finishes, including podiums at Spa and the Nürburgring.[12] 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.[13] He took five podiums, as well as victories at Moscow, the Hungaroring and Le Castellet.[8][14] 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.[15]

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 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.[16] He then partook in post-season testing, driving for DAMS and on 8 January 2015 signed with the French team to race alongside the British driver Alex Lynn, development driver of Williams F1 Team.[17] 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.

In January 2016, it was announced Gasly would switch to newcomers Prema Powerteam alongside 2015 European Formula 3 runner-up and GP2 rookie Antonio Giovinazzi. He would go on to become the GP2 Series champion that season.

Formula One

In September 2015, Gasly was announced as reserve driver for Red Bull Racing.[18][19]

Toro Rosso (2017–2018)

Gasly on debut for Toro Rosso at the 2017 Malaysian Grand Prix.

On 26 September 2017, Toro Rosso announced that Gasly would make his Formula One race début at the Malaysian Grand Prix, replacing Daniil Kvyat for a number of races.[3] He finished the Malaysian and Japanese Grands Prix outside the points. Gasly was expected to take Carlos Sainz Jr.'s seat at Austin but he was forced to miss the race due to a clash with the final round of the 2017 Super Formula Championship.[20] He returned to the team for Mexico, partnering New Zealander Brendon Hartley after the team decided to drop Kvyat from the Red Bull programme.

Gasly at the 2018 Austrian Grand Prix.

On 16 November 2017, Toro Rosso confirmed Gasly and Hartley as their full-time drivers for the 2018 season. In the Bahrain Grand Prix, Gasly qualified sixth, but promoted to fifth after Lewis Hamilton's penalty. He eventually finished the race in fourth place, earning his first points finish in Formula One.[21] A week later in China, he crashed into teammate Hartley in what the two confessed as being a 'miscommunication'.[22] Gasly recorded four more points finishes during the season, including a 7th-place finish in Monaco and a 6th-place finish in Hungary. He ended the season in 15th place in the championship with 29 points, comfortably ahead of teammate Hartley.

Red Bull (2019)

Gasly at the 2019 Chinese Grand Prix

On 20 August 2018, it was announced that Gasly would drive for Red Bull for the 2019 season, partnering Max Verstappen[23] following the departure of Daniel Ricciardo to Renault.[24] Gasly struggled with the RB15, being consistently off teammate Verstappen's pace. He only out-qualified Verstappen on one occasion, in Canada, when Verstappen was hampered by a red flag in qualifying. In both China and Monaco, Gasly recorded the fastest lap of the race. His best result of the season came at the British Grand Prix, finishing 4th after Verstappen and Sebastian Vettel in front were involved in a collision. Gasly came under increasing pressure at the Hungarian Grand Prix, after being lapped by Verstappen during a race in which he could have assisted Verstappen from being passed by Lewis Hamilton for the race win, had he been close enough behind. Despite Gasly's poor form, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner claimed that it was the team's "intention" to keep Gasly until the end of the season.[25] By the summer break, Gasly was in 6th place in the championship with 63 points, just five points clear of Carlos Sainz Jr. in the inferior McLaren. Teammate Verstappen, meanwhile, had recorded 181 points, two race wins, five podium finishes and one pole position.

Return to Toro Rosso (2019)

Gasly at the 2019 Italian Grand Prix

Gasly (second from left) on the podium after finishing second in the 2019 Brazilian Grand Prix

On 12 August 2019, it was announced that Gasly would be demoted back to junior team Toro Rosso with Alexander Albon taking his place.[26] The change came after Albon's strong performance in the Toro Rosso STR14 throughout the first half of the season, with a best finish of 6th at the rain-affected German Grand Prix. Upon the shock mid-season announcement, the team at Red Bull said in a press release, “The team will use the next nine races to evaluate Alex’s performance in order to make an informed decision as to who will drive alongside Max in 2020.”[27] On the dropping of Gasly, Christian Horner said: "Pierre really needs to take some time out during the break, reflect, and take the lessons into the second part of the year. We desperately need him realising more of the potential of the car."[28]

During the remainder of the season at Toro Rosso, Gasly achieved five points finishes, including a 9th-place finish at his first race back at the team in Belgium. His best performance came at the chaotic Brazilian Grand Prix. Gasly qualified in 7th place and took advantage of retirements from Valtteri Bottas and both Ferrari drivers, as well as a collision between Lewis Hamilton and Alexander Albon, to finish the race in 2nd 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".[29] He finished the season in 7th place in the championship with 95 points.

AlphaTauri (2020–present)

An AT01 driven by Pierre Gasly during pre-season testing.

On 12 November 2019, AlphaTauri (previously Toro Rosso) announced that Gasly would be retained alongside Kvyat for 2020.[1]

Japanese Super Formula

In February 2017, Gasly was announced to join Team Mugen to drive a Red Bull-sponsored Honda at the 2017 Super Formula Championship.[30]

Formula E

Gasly's Renault e.Dams car in the NYC ePrix paddock prior to qualifying

In July 2017, Renault e.Dams confirmed that Gasly would replace Sébastien Buemi for the New York ePrix, due to the latter's commitments to the World Endurance Championship.[31] In the weekend's first race, Gasly recovered from a poor qualifying performance of 19th to finish seventh in his debut race.[32] 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.[33]

Racing record

Career summary

Season	Series	Team	Races	Wins	Poles	FLaps	Podiums	Points	Position
2011	French F4 Championship	Autosport Academy	14	4	2	1	7	104	3rd
2012	Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0	R-ace GP	14	0	1	0	2	32	10th
	Formula Renault 2.0 NEC		7	0	0	0	1	78	23rd
2013	Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0	Tech 1 Racing	14	3	4	2	8	195	1st
	Formula Renault 2.0 Alps		6	0	0	0	3	72	6th
	Pau Formula Renault 2.0 Trophy		1	0	0	0	0	N/A	7th
2014	Formula Renault 3.5 Series	Arden Motorsport	17	0	1	3	8	192	2nd
	GP2 Series	Caterham Racing	6	0	0	0	0	0	29th
2015	GP2 Series	DAMS	21	0	3	1	4	110	8th
	Formula One	Infiniti Red Bull Racing	Test driver
2016	GP2 Series	Prema Racing	22	4	5	4	9	219	1st
	Formula One	Red Bull Racing	Test driver
2016–17	Formula E	Renault e.dams	2	0	0	0	0	18	16th
2017	Formula One	Scuderia Toro Rosso	5	0	0	0	0	0	21st
		Red Bull Racing	Test driver
	Super Formula	Team Mugen	7	2	0	0	3	33	2nd
2018	Formula One	Red Bull Toro Rosso Honda	21	0	0	0	0	29	15th
2019	Formula One	Aston Martin Red Bull Racing	12	0	0	2	0	95	7th
		Red Bull Toro Rosso Honda	9	0	0	0	1
2020	Formula One	Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda	6					14*	13th*

^* Season still in progress.

Complete Formula Renault 3.5 Series results

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

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	Pos	Points
2014	Arden Motorsport	MNZ 1 3	MNZ 2 5	ALC 1 9	ALC 2 2	MON 1 7	SPA 1 2	SPA 2 4	MSC 1 18	MSC 2 2	NÜR 1 20	NÜR 2 8	HUN 1 2	HUN 2 3	LEC 1 2	LEC 2 2	JER 1 6	JER 2 4	2nd	192

Complete GP2 Series results

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

Year	Entrant	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	DC	Points
2014	Caterham Racing	BHR FEA	BHR SPR	CAT FEA	CAT SPR	MON FEA	MON SPR	RBR FEA	RBR SPR	SIL FEA	SIL SPR	HOC FEA	HOC SPR	HUN FEA	HUN SPR	SPA FEA	SPA SPR	MNZ FEA 17	MNZ SPR Ret	SOC FEA 11	SOC SPR 11	YMC FEA 21	YMC SPR 18	29th	0
2015	DAMS	BHR FEA Ret	BHR SPR 22	CAT FEA 7	CAT SPR 3	MON FEA 14	MON SPR 10	RBR FEA 13	RBR SPR 6	SIL FEA 4	SIL SPR 3	HUN FEA 2	HUN SPR 8	SPA FEA 19	SPA SPR Ret	MNZ FEA Ret	MNZ SPR 12	SOC FEA 2	SOC SPR 5	BHR FEA 6	BHR SPR 7	YMC FEA 5	YMC SPR C	8th	110
2016	Prema Racing	CAT FEA 3	CAT SPR 2	MON FEA 15	MON SPR 13	BAK FEA Ret	BAK SPR 2	RBR FEA Ret	RBR SPR 7	SIL FEA 1	SIL SPR 7	HUN FEA 1	HUN SPR 7	HOC FEA DSQ	HOC SPR 6	SPA FEA 1	SPA SPR 4	MNZ FEA 4	MNZ SPR 2	SEP FEA 11	SEP SPR 3	YMC FEA 1	YMC SPR 9	1st	219

Complete Super Formula results

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

Year	Entrant	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	DC	Points
2017	Team Mugen	SUZ 10	OKA 19	OKA 7	FUJ 5	MOT 1	AUT 1	SUG 2	SUZ C	SUZ C	2nd	33

Complete Formula E results

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

Year	Team	Chassis	Powertrain	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Pos	Points
2016–17	Renault e.dams	Spark SRT01-e	Renault Z.E. 16	HKG	MRK	BUE	MEX	MCO	PAR	BER	BER	NYC 7	NYC 4	MTL	MTL	16th	18

Complete Formula One results

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

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	WDC	Points
2017	Scuderia Toro Rosso	Toro Rosso STR12	Toro Rosso 1.6 V6 t	AUS	CHN	BHR	RUS	ESP	MON	CAN	AZE	AUT	GBR	HUN	BEL	ITA	SIN	MAL 14	JPN 13	USA	MEX 13	BRA 12	ABU 16		21st	0
2018	Red Bull Toro Rosso Honda	Scuderia Toro Rosso STR13	Honda RA618H 1.6 V6 t	AUS Ret	BHR 4	CHN 18	AZE 12	ESP Ret	MON 7	CAN 11	FRA Ret	AUT 11	GBR 13	GER 14	HUN 6	BEL 9	ITA 14	SIN 13	RUS Ret	JPN 11	USA 12	MEX 10	BRA 13	ABU Ret	15th	29
2019	Aston Martin Red Bull Racing	Red Bull Racing RB15	Honda RA619H 1.6 V6 t	AUS 11	BHR 8	CHN 6	AZE Ret	ESP 6	MON 5	CAN 8	FRA 10	AUT 7	GBR 4	GER 14^†	HUN 6										7th	95
	Red Bull Toro Rosso Honda	Scuderia Toro Rosso STR14														BEL 9	ITA 11	SIN 8	RUS 14	JPN 7	MEX 9	USA 16^†	BRA 2	ABU 18
2020	Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda	AlphaTauri AT01	Honda RA620H 1.6 V6 t	AUT 7	STY 15	HUN Ret	GBR 7	70A 11	ESP 9	BEL	ITA	TUS	RUS	EIF	POR	EMI									13th*	14*

^† Did not finish, but was classified as he had completed more than 90% of the race distance.
^* Season still in progress.

References

1. "DRIVER MARKET: Toro Rosso to stick with Kvyat and Gasly in 2020 driver line-up". formula1.com. 12 November 2019. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
2. "F1 - 2020 Provisional Entry List". fia.com. FIA. 30 November 2019. Retrieved 30 November 2019.
3. "Toro Rosso confirms Gasly for next races". Motorsport.com. 26 September 2017. Retrieved 26 September 2017.
4. "Albon replaces Gasly at Red Bull from Spa". www.motorsport.com. Retrieved 12 August 2019.
5. "Championnat de France – Minime 2006". driverdb.com. Driver Database. Retrieved 20 October 2013.
6. "Championnat de France – Minime 2007". driverdb.com. Driver Database. Retrieved 20 October 2013.
7. "Championnat de France – Cadet 2008". driverdb.com. Driver Database. Retrieved 20 October 2013.
8. David, Gruz (20 September 2013). "Leading the new French generation: Pierre Gasly". Paddock Scout. Retrieved 20 October 2013.
9. "Drivers 2011". Autosport Academy. French F4 Championship. Archived from the original on 3 October 2011. Retrieved 29 October 2011.
10. Allen, Peter (20 October 2013). "Weekend Review: Bortolotti closes F2 season in dominant fashion". Paddock Scout. Retrieved 20 October 2013. Pierre Gasly won both races, giving him third in the final standings behind Andrea Pizzitola.
11. "New boys and old hands raring to go". Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0. Renault Sport. 27 April 2012. Retrieved 20 October 2013.
12. Allen, Peter (11 January 2013). "13 drivers to watch in 2013". Paddock Scout. Retrieved 20 October 2013.
13. Khorounzhiy, Valentin (29 January 2013). "Gasly switches to Tech 1 for second year in the Eurocup". Paddock Scout. Retrieved 30 January 2013.
14. Musker, Ant (20 October 2013). "Gasly takes championship lead with controlled race one victory". Paddock Scout. Retrieved 20 October 2013.
15. Musker, Ant (20 October 2013). "Gasly crowned champion as Ocon wins final race". Paddock Scout. Retrieved 20 October 2013.
16. Costa, Massimo (31 August 2014). "Gasly debutta a Monza con Caterham". ItaliaRacing.net (in Italian). Inpagina. Archived from the original on 7 September 2014. Retrieved 7 September 2014.
17. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 8 January 2015. Retrieved 8 January 2015.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
18. "Pierre Gasly named official Red Bull reserve driver". espn.co.uk. ESPN. Retrieved 10 October 2015.
19. "ABOUT PIERRE". Red Bull Racing. Archived from the original on 21 February 2017. Retrieved 9 March 2017.
20. Barretto, Lawrence (12 October 2017). "Gasly to miss Austin F1 race for Super Formula". Motorsport.com. Retrieved 12 October 2017.
21. Sharaf, Pablo Elizalde, Dominik. "Marko: Toro Rosso Bahrain GP result made a man out of Pierre Gasly". Autosport.com. Retrieved 20 April 2018.
22. "Pierre Gasly and Brendon Hartley say 'miscommunication' caused Chinese GP collision". Sky Sports. Retrieved 20 April 2018.
23. "Gasly to partner Verstappen at Red Bull in 2019". www.formula1.com. 20 August 2018. Retrieved 20 August 2018.
24. "Daniel Ricciardo joins Renault Sport Formula One Team from 2019". renaultsport.com. Retrieved 4 August 2018.
25. "ANALYSIS: Why Red Bull made their latest blockbuster driver swap". formula1.com. 12 August 2019. Retrieved 5 January 2020.
26. "Albon to replace Gasly at Red Bull from Belgium". www.formula1.com. Retrieved 12 August 2019.
27. "Red Bull drops Pierre Gasly for Alexander Albon". Motor Sport Magazine. 12 August 2019. Retrieved 12 August 2019.
28. "Red Bull: Alexander Albon to replace Pierre Gasly". 12 August 2019. Retrieved 12 August 2019.
29. "'This is the best day of my life' says Gasly after stunning Brazil podium". formula1.com. 17 November 2019. Retrieved 5 January 2020.
30. Gasly confirmed at Mugen for 2017 Super Formula season - Darshan Chokhani, Motorsport.com, 13 February 2017
31. "Renault e.dams confirms Gasly as Buemi replacement for New York FE". 10 July 2017. Retrieved 10 July 2017.
32. "Sam Bird wins first Formula E New York City ePrix". Autoweek. 16 July 2017. Retrieved 18 July 2017.
33. Mitchell, Scott (16 July 2017). "New York ePrix: Bird completes Brooklyn sweep in Sunday race". Motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. Retrieved 18 July 2017.

External links

• Official website (in French)
• Pierre Gasly career summary at DriverDB.com

Sporting positions
Preceded by Stoffel Vandoorne	Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 Champion 2013	Succeeded by Nyck de Vries
Preceded by Stoffel Vandoorne	GP2 Series Champion 2016	Succeeded by Charles Leclerc (FIA Formula 2)