F1 News: Pierre Gasly Has His Say On Alpine Teammate For 2025 - 'I Would Love To Have Him Next To Me'

Alex Harrington | Jul 5, 2024

Jun 7, 2024; Montreal, Quebec, CAN; BWT Alpine driver Pierre Gasly (FRA) in the pit lane during the practice session at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. Mandatory Credit: Eric Bolte-USA TODAY Sports / Eric Bolte-USA TODAY Sports

Pierre Gasly, currently racing with the Alpine F1 Team, has openly expressed his preference for his 2025 teammate, advocating for Carlos Sainz to join him. As Esteban Ocon prepares to depart the team at the end of 2024, Gasly sees Sainz as an invaluable asset to the team, highlighting his rich experience in the sport.

Following a recent contract extension with Alpine, Gasly is assured of his place in the team for 2025 and beyond. However, the choice of his new teammate remains speculative with several potential candidates: Alpine junior drivers Jack Doohan and Victor Martins, current Kick Sauber drivers Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu, and Mick Schumacher, a former F1 driver currently involved in the World Endurance Championship.

Discussing his role in the teammate selection process, Gasly stated:

"Not really, it’s not up to me. I can obviously see until I’m discussing with Bruno [Famin] and with the whole management on trying to tell them what’s my personal opinion." Despite acknowledging the quality of the drivers wanting the Enstone seat, he remains partial towards Sainz. "I think it’s quite clear, Carlos is the most experienced and most valuable guy out there. I would love to have him next to me next year, I think he’ll bring definitely a lot to the team, and we’ll be a great pairing," he added.

Alpine's recent progress under Gasly’s stewardship has been evident. The team scored points in the last four consecutive races, after efforts to reduce the bloatedness.

"The team did a fantastic job reducing the car weight at the start of the year, improving small bits and pieces there, and really focusing on what we can do, be self-objective, and work on every single part we can to improve the end result on a Sunday," acknowledged the Frenchman.

Despite these advances, the car's competitiveness remains a challenge.

"We’re all extremely disappointed with the sort of performance we got out from the car, but we just looked at ourselves [and] always tried to improve on all areas," Gasly remarked. "I think we’ve been operating very well these last few weekends. Obviously the car is still where it is, and we wish we could add more performance to fight the top eight, but at the minute, we know what the target is and what we should focus on with the package we’ve got, and try to maximize the opportunities to grab a point or two here."