Pierre Gasly says he hopes the relationship that had soured with Esteban Ocon in recent years can be rebuilt as the two Frenchmen become team-mates at the BWT Alpine F1 Team for the 2023 FIA Formula 1 World Championship season.
Gasly was announced as an Alpine driver on Saturday to end a nine-year stay as part of the Red Bull family, which has included racing in Formula 1 since 2017. He has taken one race victory – the 2020 Italian Grand Prix – and two further podiums in that time and has been highly rated by many for several years, especially during his time with Scuderia AlphaTauri.
Ocon and Gasly have known each other for twenty years having grown up less than twenty minutes from each other, but their relationship has not been strong in recent years, something that Gasly would like to rectify if they are to maximise their potential as team-mates.
“We have known each other for the past 20 years – and we are only 26!” said Gasly to Formula1.com. “It just shows how long we have known each other. He was there when I did my first laps on the karting track.
“Our relationship has been going up and down since, it’s not new to anyone. I would say since we arrived in F1, it got better. We both achieved one of our dreams but went through different stages. [There is no point] comparing Esteban when we were six, 12, 18 and now 26 – we grew up a lot.
“We are a lot more mature, a lot more responsible, and at the end of the day we have a common target. We both want to be competitive, we both want to be fighting at the front. And we know to achieve that, we have to work together for the team. I’m quite excited about it.
“It’s an opportunity for both of us to get back to a similar relationship that we had in the past. What was the probability that two six-year-old kids from Normandy, France, living 20 minutes from each other, would end up 20 years later as team-mates in a French team? I think that is incredible and a very special story.”
On the track, Gasly also highlighted just how good Ocon has been as team-mates with Fernando Alonso, and he knows he will need to be on the top of his own game to show well against him.
“I know Esteban is an excellent driver, he’s showing it every weekend with Fernando,” Gasly added. “Everyone knows how good Fernando is and he’s definitely keeping up with him – and performing at a very high level.
“He’s got experience with the team, which will surely help, and then I have my own experience from the Red Bull family, working with Red Bull and AlphaTauri, which I’ll be able to fully utilise for the coming season. It’s very exciting.”