Vettel congratulated Gasly on joining 'Toro Rosso F1 winners' club'
AlphaTauri's Pierre Gasly says Sebastian Vettel phoned to congratulate him after his Monza Formula 1 win for joining a "winners' club" for the team formerly called Toro Rosso
Vettel won the same Italian Grand Prix event back in 2008 for the ex-Minardi squad, which was at that stage competing in its third F1 season after becoming Red Bull's 'junior' team.
Gasly's triumph came 12 years later, with Vettel taking four world titles and 38 further wins in the meantime at the 'senior' Red Bull squad - where Gasly raced for just 12 events in 2019 before his shock demotion back to Toro Rosso after registering a tough run of results - after being promoted at the end of 2008.
The topic of Gasly's Red Bull future was discussed at the pre-event press conference for this weekend's Tuscan GP, where he was asked what kind of feedback he had been given by Red Bull's motorsport advisor Helmut Marko since taking his triumph for AlphaTauri, the new moniker the energy drinks company has given its second squad to promote its in-house fashion brand.
"At the moment we didn't really have time to talk about all this, Helmut congratulated me in Monza, sent me a text, similar for Christian [Horner]," he replied.
"And yeah they were both really happy for my success.
"On what it's going to change for the future at the moment I didn't really think about all these [things] - I didn't discuss anything with them.
"But obviously in Toro Rosso, as Seb mentioned it to me on Monday when he called me, we're the only two to win with this team, and he won in 2008 and went with Red Bull to win four world championships as we know.
"And I'm really happy to have join him in this winners' club for this team.
"We will see what opportunities there will be in the future.
"But at the moment, I just want to take this time to celebrate with AlphaTauri, with this team.
"We still have many more races to go until the end of the year, and we need to make sure we perform at a very high level and the focus is on that at the moment."
Gasly also explained how his victory had significantly added to his schedule ahead of this weekend's race at Mugello, but said he had "no big concerns" about his preparations for the event.
"Obviously I realised that winning a Formula 1 grand prix - especially for the first time - you have quite a lot of solicitations in the coming days and it's been pretty mental, I must say," he added.
"I'm not going to lie, it's been very intense - I didn't really have any time for myself to sit down and even just realise what had happened.
"But it's something that happens once in a lifetime - things have to be done and it's part of my job, and it's my job to deliver again this weekend.
"I'm well aware of that, I've done all my preparations and I've trained really hard Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday even though it was really busy.
"I'm feeling fully ready for this weekend."
Perez: "Nobody told me anything" about Racing Point exit before Stroll call
Vettel came "close" to retiring from F1 before signing for Aston Martin
De Vries cleared of wrongdoing in dispute over €250K loan
Nyck de Vries has been cleared of any wrongdoing in an Amsterdam court over a claim launched against him by real estate magnate Jeroen Schothorst relating to a €250,000 loan.
Horner admits Red Bull’s real RB19 will be ‘somewhat different’
Red Bull boss Christian Horner says the real RB19 that will appear in Formula 1 testing in Bahrain later this month will be ‘somewhat different'.
Horner hints at closer links between Mercedes and Williams F1 teams
Red Bull Racing boss Christian Horner has hinted that there could be a closer relationship between the Mercedes and Williams Formula 1 teams in the wake of James Vowles’s move.
Ford remains committed to WRC amid F1 return
Ford has stated that it remains committed to its programme in the World Rally Championship following confirmation of its return to Formula 1 as an engine supplier from 2026.
Assessing Hamilton's remarkable decade as a Mercedes F1 driver
Many doubted Lewis Hamilton’s move from McLaren to Mercedes for the 2013 Formula 1 season. But the journey he’s been on since has taken the Briton to new heights - and to a further six world championship titles
Why new look Haas is a litmus test for Formula 1’s new era
OPINION: With teams outside the top three having struggled in Formula 1 in recent seasons, the rules changes introduced in 2022 should have more of an impact this season. How well Haas does, as the poster child for the kind of team that F1 wanted to be able to challenge at the front, is crucial
The Mercedes F1 pressure changes under 10 years of Toto Wolff
OPINION: Although the central building blocks for Mercedes’ recent, long-lasting Formula 1 success were installed before he joined the team, Toto Wolff has been instrumental in ensuring it maximised its finally-realised potential after years of underachievement. The 10-year anniversary of Wolff joining Mercedes marks the perfect time to assess his work
The all-French F1 partnership that Ocon and Gasly hope to emulate
Alpine’s signing of Pierre Gasly alongside Esteban Ocon revives memories of a famous all-French line-up, albeit in the red of Ferrari, for BEN EDWARDS. Can the former AlphaTauri man's arrival help the French team on its path back to winning ways in a tribute act to the Prancing Horse's title-winning 1983?
How do the best races of F1 2022 stack up to 2021?
OPINION: A system to score all the grands prix from the past two seasons produces some interesting results and sets a standard that 2023 should surely exceed
Who were the fastest drivers in F1 2022?
Who was the fastest driver in 2022? Everyone has an opinion, but what does the stopwatch say? Obviously, differing car performance has an effect on ultimate laptime – but it’s the relative speed of each car/driver package that’s fascinating and enlightening says ALEX KALINAUCKAS
Why F1's nearly man is refreshed and ready for his return
He has more starts without a podium than anyone else in Formula 1 world championship history, but Nico Hulkenberg is back for one more shot with Haas. After spending three years on the sidelines, the revitalised German is aiming to prove to his new team what the F1 grid has been missing
The potential-laden F1 car that Ferrari neglected
The late Mauro Forghieri played a key role in Ferrari’s mid-1960s turnaround, says STUART CODLING, and his pretty, intricate 1512 was among the most evocative cars of the 1.5-litre era. But a victim of priorities as Formula 1 was deemed less lucrative than success in sportscars, its true potential was never seen in period
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.