Summer in Formula 1 is traditionally a time of cooling engines and a heated 'silly season', where driver transfer talks often drown out technical discussions about cars and engines. But Alpine appears calm, at least regarding their lead driver, Pierre Gasly. The Frenchman is one of the few on the grid with a contract not only for 2027, but also 2028.
This full confidence from the Enstone-based squad is not without reason. Although Gasly has never truly had a car capable of fighting at the front throughout his career—except for his first six months at Red Bull in 2019, which nearly destroyed his career—Alpine sees great potential in the #10 driver.
In a lengthy interview with The Race Business podcast, Alpine boss Flavio Briatore spoke about Gasly and the team's future. He stressed that the driver issue is not the top priority right now. “At the moment my priority is to build a racing team. That is the priority. After that, I think the drivers we have are good. If we talk about top drivers, I believe Pierre is among the top six best,” said Briatore. “Now we just need a better car, and more confidence in the people here at the factory.”
For Briatore, who has won titles with legends like Michael Schumacher and Fernando Alonso, the driver's role becomes crucial only when the whole team is already at its best level. “The driver becomes crucial when having two or three tenths less makes a big difference. But why not Pierre? Why not the drivers we have? The same goes for Franco (Colapinto). He's very young, still early in F1, and from last year to this year he improved 100%. You can't know how a young driver will develop. We'll see in the future.”
One key decision in the Enstone team's recent history was the switch from Renault to Mercedes power units. The decision was controversial, but Briatore defends it firmly. “On a scale of zero to ten, we are now around six and a half, and the further we go, the harder it gets. But we have a great relationship with Mercedes. We have the Mercedes power unit and it completely changes the feeling for everyone here. We know that at least in one aspect, we are at the best possible level.”
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