This year, Pierre Gasly took a new direction in his career, leaving behind the Red Bull structure to represent a factory team for the first time – Alpine. There, he found Esteban Ocon, in a completely French duo, but with whom he had some disagreements in the past.
#10 admitted that he did not expect an easy time when reuniting with his compatriot in the same team: ‘I knew it wouldn’t be easy, but at the same time I knew we had grown a lot. I was a little worried about how he would receive me and work with me. I have known Esteban for a long time, so I know how we work. We have different personalities, we are simply two different types of people, but ultimately I think we work very well. I think we understand the responsibility’.
Gasly emphasized that he always sought collective work for performance: ‘My main concern was working well with him, to ensure that we extract the most from the car, the most from the team, and that we are both rowing in the same direction. There will always be a healthy rivalry, one wanting to beat the other. But what I am most concerned about is that this does not impact the team’s evolution and the car’s evolution’.
According to the former AlphaTauri driver, outside the paddock he does not have a close relationship with Ocon: ‘We don’t spend much time together, but when we get to the track, then we are at work. We are mature, responsible, and we are performing… in terms of our working relationship, it is very formal between us, but that’s all I can ask for because in the end I just want to be competitive. I know Esteban wouldn’t invite me to dinner, but I’m okay with that’.
