Pierre Gasly told to grasp Alpine opportunity if it arises

Former F1 driver Jean-Eric Vergne has advised Pierre Gasly to jump the Red Bull family ship and forge his own path at Alpine if the opportunity presents itself.

Gasly is contracted with AlphaTauri until the end of 2023 having signed a new deal earlier this season, but it could still be the case he is driving elsewhere come the campaign next year.

Indeed, when he penned the deal with his current team to stick around a little longer, it did look as though his options were pretty limited.

Red Bull didn’t have a seat, Daniel Ricciardo was still contracted at McLaren until the end of next year, Fernando Alonso hadn’t revealed he was leaving Alpine and Sebastian Vettel hadn’t announced he was retiring.

Things move fast in F1, though, and the driver market is now in full frenzied mode with a number of switches happening and plenty more getting touted.

That said, then, an opening at Alpine is now there given Alonso’s exit for 2023 and some have suggested Gasly might be the team’s go-to option, with them making an all-French line-up alongside Esteban Ocon.

Indeed, Vergne is clearly a fan of the idea, and has suggested that Pierre goes for it:

“I really like Pierre, and know him quite well,” he said on Sky F1’s Any Driven Monday.

“I think what he has shown over the past two years has been nothing but impressive and… there is no room for him at Red Bull, he has to move away at some point to start using his own wings to fly.

“I think Alpine could be the right team for him.”