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Pierre Gasly, Alpine
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Interview

The intent revealed in Gasly's Alpine switch that his F1 rivals should heed

Disappointed that the door to the senior team remains closed to him, Pierre Gasly has left the Red Bull family. But, speaking exclusively to OLEG KARPOV, he explains this is by no means a bitter separation and its dogged pursuit of the 2020 Italian GP winner has imbued him with confidence aplenty

“The first thing that stood out for me when I came to Faenza, it was the fact that there were all these pictures of Seb Vettel’s victory in Monza in the staircase as you walk up,” recalls Pierre Gasly of his first visit to the headquarters of what was then Toro Rosso. “Walking up,
 I remember I was making videos and stories 
for my social media, and someone said to me, ‘Oh, Sebastian! Numero uno.’ And I replied at the time, ‘He is the best. But hopefully there will be pictures of me in five years on this staircase.’”

Five years on, the second most important flight of stairs at the team’s Faenza base is a gallery with photos of Pierre Gasly. Photos likewise taken at Monza, also of a win for the team. However the rest of the Frenchman’s career goes, he is already one of the small Scuderia’s defining drivers, along with Vettel. After all, even world champion Max Verstappen – who made his grand prix debut with Toro Rosso – doesn’t have his own flight of stairs in Faenza. “Max didn’t win for us – he left one race too early,” is a favourite quip of team boss Franz Tost’s about this.

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