Podcast: Pierre Gasly, My big break
The make-or-break moments that brought Pierre Gasly to the AlphaTauri F1 team, including the championship he had to win and his short stint with Red Bull
“I want to be world champion,” says Pierre Gasly. “So now we need to get to work.”
Newly confirmed in F1 with AlphaTauri for 2023, the 26-year-old grand prix winner is the latest guest on our My big break podcast series, looking at the key moments that brought him to where he is now.
Recorded before his future was confirmed, Gasly explains how he tried ice hockey and football before being captivated by motor sport when he went karting for the first time aged 6.
Part of a hotshot generation of French drivers, Gasly recalls watching grands prix with Charles Leclerc and Esteban Ocon, dreaming that maybe one of them might make it to F1. He also describes climbing the racing ladder on a budget to Formula Renault 2.0 where only a championship win would unlock the prize money needed to progress.
His success brought him a Red Bull contract and, ultimately, a brief stint with the team which ended after just 12 races. He reflects upon that low moment and those that thought it would be the end of him, followed by his recollections of winning in Monza and silencing the critics.