After the arrival of Flavio Briatore as executive advisor, Alpine announced the extension of Pierre Gasly’s contract over several years. Carlos Sainz Jr could be his teammate in 2025.
What would F1 be in 2024 without Alpine? The French brand has been making Formula 1 headlines for weeks now. After the tensions between Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon, then the announcement of the separation at the end of the year with the latter, the questions surrounding the Renault engine, the return to the points after difficult races and the arrival of Flavio Briatore in as executive advisor, Alpine announced on Thursday the contract extension of Pierre Gasly. “The extension of Pierre’s contract with the team is a real pleasure. He is a driver with a wealth of experience in Formula 1 and continues to show enormous potential on track. He is a great ambassador for the Alpine brand, so we look forward to continuing our collaboration. We have big ambitions and we will work tirelessly to achieve them. We will take our time choosing Pierre’s teammate and we are excited about the options available to us,” rejoiced Bruno Famin, the boss of Alpine F1.
“I really feel at home in this great team. I enjoy being an integral part of both the Formula 1 project and the wider vision of Alpine Cars. I have been there officially for more than eighteen months and the goal has always been to build for the long term with the team. Although the track season has been difficult so far, I am sticking to the project and not going anywhere. I am happy with the changes made, the hard work and the direction the team is taking. There is a lot of potential in the personnel and resources of this team. I can’t wait to see what the future holds and right now I’m focusing on the details we implement every day to improve our performance,” clutched the driver in 140 F1 starts.
The person concerned therefore signed a lease for several years with Alpine, without specifying the duration. After the announcement of Esteban Ocon’s departure, Gasly’s extension was not really in doubt since it was difficult to see the Normandy brand parting with its second tricolor. The winner of the 2020 Italian Grand Prix will indeed still be with the French team next season and he could have Carlos Sainz Jr at his side.
One year contract for Sainz?
It’s the big sensation of the week. Since Monday, Alpine has been severely flirting with the Spanish driver. Currently at Ferrari but forced to find a steering wheel following the announced arrival of Lewis Hamilton among the Italians in 2025, Sainz is slow to make his choice. Courted by Sauber which will become Audi in 2026, the Iberian was very close to signing with Williams for 2025 but Alpine entered the dance under the leadership of Briatore and the seduction operation seems to have its effect with the winner of the GP of Australia this season. The Normandy team would ensure him a certain freedom at the end of the 2025 season to sign elsewhere if he wishes and this would make the French clan’s proposal quite sexy in the eyes of the current Ferrari driver.
Read alsoFormula 1: Carlos Sainz Jr new priority for Alpine to replace Ocon?
So much so that Alpine now seems ahead of Williams in Sainz’s mind. As a reminder, the 29-year-old driver, three victories in F1, has already driven for Renault at the end of the 2017 season and during 2018 for 25 races with the French brand. And the Madrid native knows Pierre Gasly well since the two men battled in 2014 in the Formula Renault 3.5 Series and the Iberian won the world title ahead of…the Norman.
