Pierre Gasly revealed that he feels responsible for motivating “all the troops” at Alpine as it navigates its way towards the end of a disappointing 2025 Formula 1 campaign.
The Enstone-based squad has scored a meagre 22 points this season – all from the Frenchman – and sits bottom of the Constructors’ Championship, having finished sixth in 2024.
Alpine has endured a number of unsettling moments this season, including the shock departure of boss Oliver Oakes, leaving Executive Advisor Flavio Briatore back on the pit wall.
It is also preparing for a major shift away from its status as an original engine manufacturer, transitioning to a Mercedes customer outfit for 2026.
Gasly has been very much a leader from the front in many respects, having been the team’s only senior driver, with Jack Doohan and, latterly, Franco Colapinto in the second car.
And his commitment was signalled with a contract extension until 2028, with much of the talk centred around the bright future it is confident of enjoying.
Gasly gave the team something to cheer about with a points finish in Brazil, and before the race, spoke about how it is overlooking its current struggles and towards next season.
“We definitely seem to have taken a step back in terms of performance,” he admitted to media including Motorsport Week.
“We’ve seen cars like Haas, for example, bringing upgrades, even in Austin, when we stopped developing the car months ago – but it’s OK.
“We know we have another four race weekends where we’ll try, and then after that we’ll be onto a different project.
“I’m very excited. I’m kind of in between two chairs at the minute because obviously this year is extremely hard for everyone in the team, and we are not competitive at all – for reasons we know and decisions we’ve taken tactically.”
Gasly sees the whole situation as a ‘short-term pain, long-term gain’ scenario, as focus is already firmly on next year’s car, a clean slate in many respects due to F1’s new rulebook.
“If it gives me better results next year, I literally do not care about this season – and it will be all worth it,” he said. “Because the reality is what we could have fought for this year is still not good enough for us.
“And these couple of weeks or months can potentially give us a head start on some other teams and bring much better success, which is what we are seeking, ultimately.
“So, yeah, fully backing the team in what we did. It’s a bit drastic, but sometimes to achieve greatness, you’ve got to make tough choices.”
Gasly sees importance in being the ‘main factor in motivation’ for Alpine
Gasly’s role as a senior driver is one he appears to take very seriously, and one in which he sees himself as a figure who can rally the personnel when things are not going well.
“The way I see it is, I think the most important thing, on my side, is to keep the motivation up inside the team for all the troops,” he said. “Because at the end of the day, as much frustration as I can build from not being able to bring points back to the guys on a season like we have, they are as disappointed because everybody puts their heart out there – work crazy hours, travel the world – to give us the possibility to race with the best possible equipment that we can have.
“And at the end of the day, I need to really see more globally – about the 1,500 people that we are, working at the track but also back at the factory – and especially knowing that we’re onto something much bigger for 2026.
“So it doesn’t take anything away from me trying to put my best in the car every single time I’m in. Do I enjoy it as much? No. But I’m also aware of the project that I’m working for and also what’s coming in the coming years. So I’m not losing sight of the big picture.
“And that’s why for me, it’s important to be the main factor in motivation for every single individual we have in the team.”
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