Gasly-Alpine, why does it take time

The rapprochement between Nyck De Vries et Alpha Tauri a few days after the Italian Grand Prix suggested a rapid formalization of the long-awaited marriage between Alpine et Pierre Gasly. The last obstacle was in fact removed, since Helmut Marko had never hidden that he was ready to let the Norman leave one year from the end of his contract for service rendered, on the condition of finding a quality replacement. As soon as the Colton Herta trail was abandoned, the meeting De Vries-Marko in Graz in Austria, last Friday September 16, rightly suggested that there would be progress on both issues. 

Asked at a press conference in Singapore about his future, Pierre Gasly hardly said anything new, simply calling for patience. “Everyone knows there are ongoing discussions, noted the AlphaTauri driver. For my part, I hope that within two to three weeks, we will have a clearer idea of ​​my future. So far, nothing has changed. When there is something confirmed, you will know it. 

Discussions that take time are usually never a good sign in Formula 1. In the case of Pierre Gasly, however, there is nothing abnormal. The Norman and Alpine in fact still wish to combine their forces from next season to compensate for the departure of Fernando Alonso. If the file drags on, it is mainly due to the legitimate slowness in the progress of the file which is being played out in parallel, that of the De Vries-AlphaTauri alliance. 

The Gasly file-Alpine is linked to the De Vries-AlphaTauri file. The Batavian is here alongside Gwen Lagrue, responsible for driver development at Mercedes. © Florent Gooden / DPPI

Previously committed to 2023 in Endurance and Formula E – even if this had not yet been made official – the Dutchman is currently in the process of putting his various clauses into play in order to be able to get rid of the programs in question. According to our information, De Vries was indeed to be established in WEC in Toyota, alors que certains médias évoquaient aussi une possible liaison avec Maserati en FE. L’équation est simple : tant qu’AlphaTauri n’est pas sûre à 100% que De Vries sera bien en mesure de s’engager, alors l’écurie de Faenza est obligée de retenir Gasly, afin de se prémunir d’un éventuel échec du dossier De Vries. 

By evoking a possible formalization of his future within two to three weeks, Pierre Gasly gave a temporal indication concerning the moment when the files could be definitively settled. Unless there is a turnaround, the Norman should perform well at Alpine in 2023. While waiting for the officialization, be patient. It is well known that legal time has always been much longer than media time... 

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