Pierre Gasly: Athletes must help people and I want to be more vocal

Growing up on camera, whether it be on reality TV, in film, or in sport, is no easy thing to do. For young sports stars, fans watch not just their level of talent develop, but their physiques, their personalities, and their minds, all in real-time.

In Formula 1 the watching eyes are especially intense. This is a sport which puts its young athletes before the press and their lenses with higher frequency than any other, which demands they speak coherent and articulate English from their youth, and which separates them from their families for vast swathes of the year.

Pierre Gasly, the French driver who will lead the Alpha Tauri team into the 2022 season when it begins in Bahrain on the weekend of 18 March, joined the F1 grid at 21 and has had to contend with significant strife in his time in the sport. Now, half a decade into his F1 journey, he is reflecting on the sharp and very public transformation he has undergone.

‘Over the last five years I think I’ve grown up a lot, from the different experiences I’ve had to go through, whether it was professionally or personally,’ Gasly exclusively told Metro.co.uk. ‘We all learn. From age 15 to 20 I was completely different. From 20 to 25 I’m completely different again. The things you have seen shape you as a person, and shape your mind as well.’

After two excellent seasons with Alpha Tauri, in which he took his first race win and regularly qualified his car in lofty grid positions, Gasly is now widely considered one the most well-rounded, consistent, and naturally quick drivers in the Formula 1 field. The idea that he can one day challenge for more frequent victories and potentially even the world drivers’ championship is by no means far-fetched.

Just a few short years ago, though,