Pierre Gasli: "I was ready to go to Red Bull and I knew it would work"

Pierre Gasley (February 7, 1996, Rouen, France) believe a second time. And with that idea he works every day. At 26 years old, the F1 driver will face Mundo Deportivo in Merchant stores at Splau Shopping Centerbrand of glasses who sponsored him in Formula 1, as a “new person”a completely different pilot than the other red bull he was promoted and relegated to the same course in 2019, when he had just one year of ‘Great Circus’ experience. Since then, with the group today AlphaTauri (formerly Toro Rosso)achieved good results and showed a lot of perseverance, proving that he was worthy of trust again.

His name rang again to promote last year, but on red bull they chose 2021 for the veteran and talented Czech Perez. The Mexican won the renewal for 2022 and left that stone waiting another year. This campaign, a hesitant start for his car did not allow him to shine, but he faced each race with the mindset of continuing to earn the long-awaited opportunity. MD he was interviewed in 2018, when he was in his first full year in F1. Now, 4 springs later, that kid who spoke in monosyllables is someone else. Today, she receives an MD who shows great closeness and the interest that is understood when an interviewee starts the conversation with a question to the journalist.

“You think, how long does it take to learn Spanish? Because it’s hard for me. I want to learn it, but I don’t know how long it will take,” the pilot asked this humble journalist, so a conversation began if where Pierre embarked on a beautiful introspective journey.

You probably know French and Italian, if you live in Spain, in a few months you will understand and you can say it, right?

Of course. I like Madrid, so maybe I’ll move there sometime. I want to spend time there. I live in Milan, but I can do half the year in Milan and the half in Madrid.

I understand you like football. There you have Madrid or Atlético de Madrid. Any preferences?

Nerd! (laughs) I support PSG. I have been a big PSG fan for almost 15 years. I just go with them (laughs)

Do you like Barcelona?

Yes, I like Barcelona a lot. I spend a lot of time here for pre-season testing each year. This is a beautiful city. The circuit is fun, and so is the city. The sea is there … and in Barcelona I like to walk, go to the beach and so on. The historic center is very beautiful.

In 2018 I interviewed him for Mundo Deportivo and I have to say that before I saw a new man and was happier than that boy who lived his first full year in F1. I’m right?

If possible. It has been raining hard since then. Over the past 4 years many things have happened to me within F1, but also out of the way, within my private life. I think you always grow, you learn in life, you discover new things, new people, you learn about yourself and yes, you change, you evolve and now I am so happy for who I am. I’d be happier if I could have better results on the track, you know … but we do it and I’m also happy for the challenge I have with AlphaTauri. I try to give the maximum.

It reminded him more seriously. He was a more closed man. What can you say now to that kid who started F1 with Toro Rosso?

I will tell him that it is important to focus on your work and your goal, put a lot of dedication and effort into it to achieve the level I expect of myself. And you know, you have to have a good lifestyle, train, compensate, work with the team … it’s a full-time job, you have to be committed 24/7 to it. But at the same time, I would say that it is important to find the right balance in personal life. Because I’m someone who’s totally focused on something, but then when I get off track, I also need my space to be Pierre Gasly, the normal person that I am.

You know, I mean seeing my friends, enjoying life, relaxing sometimes with the people I love. I love fashion, music, football, travel and I need my balance between F1 and my personal life.

That means that when I started I had no balance.

i don’t have it. You have to learn and it’s hard, because when you get to Formula 1 you’re in the middle of the spotlight, a lot of press, everyone judges you and everyone says to you: ‘You have to be like that, you have to be like that. You have to speak like this’ … And ultimately (he thinks) that’s pretty impressive at first, but then you have to understand what works for you.And now I know what works for me.Now I know that I need space, I need it to breathe and be alone with myself.And that’s something I’ve learned over the years and now I’m feeling happy.I’m happy with my life.I already know if I’m happy I in my personal life I will be happier when I go to races and I perform better.

Have you ever worked on this personal process with a mental ‘coach’? This may be a key thing.

I think it’s more of an experience thing, telling you what makes you happy and what works for you. You learn to know what you need to get your mind right, you understand what makes you happy, what makes you feel ready, confident and what prepares you to face a Grand Prix weekend . So now I know all those steps and when I go to a Grand Prix I know what I have to do to be prepared, and I don’t have to worry about anything because I’ve already gone through it myself I process and I feel good.

The difficult moments also helped her grow.

Of course! Of course. Forever. Those are the moments when you learn more.

Yes, but at that moment it must be difficult for the pilot.

And that’s how that happened. For me this was my worst moment. (What he was referring to was when he drove for Red Bull and was demoted mid-season) This was the hardest moment of my career. It is difficult professionally, but also personally. But I had no doubt that I could get out of that difficult situation because I was someone who always struggled. I’ve always struggled, all my life, and from those moments you always learn. You learn from success, but more from these failures and challenges. And of course, I learned a lot from it.

Every time I see him I think of the path Carlos Sainz followed. The Madrilenian, when he was at Toro Ross, did not have a chance to climb Red Bull despite the fact that he deserved for results. It comes to you very quickly. And when he returned to the Feanza team, despite his great results, he was never given that opportunity again. Is it important for you to see the example of Sainz, who left Red Bull and is now at Ferrari?

I think Carlos Sainz has a different journey than me. Many drivers have continued with Red Bull in their careers and have done well there. Carlos left and went to Renault, then to McLaren and now to Ferrari and he had a brilliant career. I think it depends on what opportunities you have at the table. Not to have an example, but you should always do what makes you happy. And we’ll see what happens in my case.

You had a chance in 2019 and you were relegated after race 12, back to Toro Rosso. But this is another Gasly. How should you impress Red Bull so they give you another chance?

Well, I think pretty clearly now. They gave me a chance on a top team after only one year in F1. There’s a reason. They thought: ‘Okay. Pierre has the talent and the speed to do it. ‘ And now, 3 years later I am a better driver than I was then. I still have a lot of experience, I know what I really need from the team to be fast and when I get the chance I know it will work and I will do it. I learned a lot from my experience when I was there (Red Bull) and they did the same to me. We both learned from that situation.

And Franz Tost, Team Principal of AlphaTauri, said you deserve that opportunity at Red Bull. How important is it for Franz to support you here?

It’s important of course because he sees what I’m doing, how hard I work to accomplish that and how close I am to the engineers and the team. I do everything in a super professional and close way to have the opportunity. For me, in the end … I knew I was ready, and in the end all I could do was perform on the track to prove it. But it’s good to see that my friends are close to me and we’ll see what happens.

If they don’t give you a chance to go to Red Bull in 2023, will you look any other way?

Depends. There are negotiations and we will see what is available and then I will decide what is the best option for me. Obviously, we have to wait and evaluate all opportunities.

Good luck, Pierre. And thank you for attending Mundo Deportivo.

Thanks!