Alpine Formula 1 driver Pierre Gasly has been named as a co-owner of the semi-professional French football outfit FC Versaille 78.
The club is situated in the commute of Versailles to the southwest of Paris and was formed in 1989 when Racing Club Versailles and Companion Sports Versailles merged.
The Frenchman has been revealed as the third partner in FC Versailles, becoming an equal shareholder with President Alexandre Mulliez and his partner Fabien Lazare.
“I am delighted to get involved with FC Versailles because I have always wanted to get involved in professional football, Gasly, who is a fan of French champions PSG, said.
“With Alexandre and Fabien, we share values, ambition and a keen competitive spirit which will allow us to positively develop the club. This is the start of a very beautiful story. Go Versailles!”
Having been present in the third tier since the beginning of the 2022-23 season, Mulliez has expressed the desire to transform FC Versailles into a professional club.
“Pierre brings a strong complement to Fabien and myself,” Mulliez added. “I am convinced that our collaboration will be fruitful.
“As a long-time fan of F1, I am lucky to have Pierre by our side to achieve all our goals.”
Gasly’s venture outside of F1 comes at a time when his Alpine team has struggled for competitiveness and languishes at the bottom of the Constructors’ Championship.
However, the ex-Red Bull racer has addressed that the Enstone squad is determined to reverse its fortunes ahead of this weekend’s third round, the Australian Grand Prix.
“It has not been the start to the season that we wanted, but, in reality, it was one we expected to be challenging and that has proven to be the case,” he admitted.
“I was in Enstone for a couple of days last week. It was good to spend time with many different people and to discuss a few things on how we can improve.
“I also took some time at the whole team debrief to say a few words on my feeling inside of the car. I see so much hunger and motivation in everyone at the team to improve our situation.
“We’ll keep chipping away and we have Australia this weekend to keep understanding more about what we have in our hands.”
