A look at the career path of former Red Bull junior driver Pierre Gasly.
Alpine driver Pierre Gasly was part of the Red Bull Junior team from 2014 to 2022. After a successful campaign in the junior series, Red Bull gave the young Frenchman the opportunity to race in Formula 1.
Almost 7 years since his F1 debut, Gasly is now a Formula 1 Grand Prix winner. He won the Italian Grand Prix at Monza in the 2020 season. He gave Alpha Tauri their first win (second in history, and most recent) since the 2008 Italian Grand Prix in Monza when Sebastian Vettel had won.
The Frenchman now drives for the Alpine F1 team alongside fellow Frenchman, Esteban Ocon, with whom he had a dispute at the 2024 Monaco Grand Prix. While the future of the Alpine lineup is being questioned, let’s have a look at how their recent addition to the team, Gasly, climbed his way up to Formula 1.
Karting
Pierre Gasly competed in the Minime categories of karting between 2005 and 2007. In 2008 he stepped up to the French Cadet Championship where he finished 4th overall.
He moved to the KF3 category in 2009 and finished 3rd in the French Cadet Championship. In 2009 as well, he competed in the CIK- FIA World Cup where he also finished 3rd. Gasly stayed in the KF3 category until 2010, coming 3rd in three other competitions, as well as being runners-up and being named champion once.
Pierre Gasly competed exclusively in the KF3 category during his karting career and did not progress to the KF2 category. Despite focusing on KF3, Gasly achieved notable success and demonstrated his talent in that category, which took him into single-seater racing in 2011.
Formula 4
At the 2011 French F4 Championship, Pierre Gasly made his single-seater debut. The Frenchman performed well, earning 4 wins and 7 podium finishes. Gasly finished P3 in the standings.
Formula Renault 2.0
In 2012, Pierre Gasly joined the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 championship. Gasly enjoyed 2 podium finishes and was P10 in the Drivers’ Championship by the end of the season, and P5 in the Juniors Class.
Also in 2012, he competed in 3 rounds of the Formula Renault 2.0 Northern European Cup. His best finish in a race was P3 allowing him to finish P23 out of 53 drivers in the Drivers’ Championship standings.
He stayed in the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 for the 2013 season as well and had a better season. Gasly finished the season with 3 wins as well as 5 additional podium finishes, allowing him to clinch the title.
The French driver also competed in the 2013 Formula Renault 2.0 Alps Series. Despite only competing in 3 out of 7 rounds, his 3 podium finishes in 6 races were enough for him to finish P6 in the Drivers’ Championship.
On 20 May 2013, the first non-championship Pau Trophy for Formula Renault 2.0 was held. Pierre Gasly finished P7 in both the qualifying race and the main race.
Formula Renault 3.5
Pierre Gasly made the step up to Formula 3.5 in 2014. He was top of the Rookie Class, and P2 in the overall Drivers’ Championship, behind champion Carlos Sainz. Gasly did not win any races that season, but he enjoyed 7 podium finishes. He also managed 1 pole position and 3 fastest laps.
GP2
At the end of 2014, Pierre Gasly got the opportunity to compete in the GP2 season. Gasly made his GP2 Series debut in 2014 at Monza for the Italian Grand Prix. He had replaced Caterham Racing driver Tom Dillmann who was unable to participate in GP2 Series races for that weekend. Gasly took part in the remaining rounds which were the Russian and Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Following a post-season test with DAMS, he joined the team and took part in the 2015 GP2 season. 21 races, 4 podium finishes and 3 pole positions later, Gasly finished his first full season in GP2 P8 in the Drivers’ Championship.
The Frenchman returned to the GP2 Series for the 2016 season, this time driving for Prema. He claimed 4 pole positions, 4 race wins, 9 podium finishes as well as the GP2 title. In what was Prema’s first season in the competition, Pierre Gasly gave them the Drivers’ Championship, and alongside teammate Antonio Giovinazzi who finished P2 in the standings, gave the team the Constructors’ Championship title as well.
Super Formula and Formula E
For the 2017 season, the Frenchman competed in the Super Formula Championship. He had 2 race wins and a P2 finish that season, allowing him to come P2 in the Drivers’ Championship standings. He missed out on the title by just 0.5 points!
In July of 2017, Pierre Gasly made a one-off appearance in Formula E. He competed at the New York City ePrix, coming P7 and P4 in both races.
2017 saw Gasly get the opportunity of a lifetime. Pierre made his F1 race debut at the 2017 Malaysian Grand Prix with Toro Rosso, replacing Daniil Kvyat for the remaining 6 races of the season. Gasly was expected to take Carlos Sainz’s seat at the United States GP after the Spaniard left for Renault, but he was forced to miss the race due to a clash with the final round of the 2017 Super Formula Championship. He returned to the team for the Mexican Grand Prix, partnering with Brendon Hartley after the team decided to drop Kvyat from the Red Bull programme.
Pierre Gasly became a full-time Toro Rosso driver for the 2018 F1 season.
