Alpine paid dearly to get Gasly

When Alpine F1 chose the best candidate for partner Esteban Okon’s place, they preferred Pierre Gasly, although the Frenchman had a valid contract with AlphaTauri, and in 2023 he was to continue working with this team.

To get Gasly, Alpine’s management therefore had to negotiate with Red Bull and pay a very hefty fee – according to Sky Sports, the parties agreed to an amount of 10 million euros. This suggests that the Renault works team is really seriously counting on Pierre in the future, who has a reputation as a fast, stable and focused racer.

Of course AlphaTauri might not have let Gasly go, as Red Bull was betting on American Colton Herta, albeit a somewhat risky move in terms of sport as he has no Formula 1 experience, and it remains to be seen how he would adapt to a technique unknown to him. But circumstances intervened that Red Bull could not overcome: Herta does not have an FIA super license and does not have enough points to achieve it.

Then their attention was drawn to Nyck de Vries, who drove confidently for Williams on her F1 debut when he had to replace an ailing Alex Albon. On the first day of the Japanese race weekend, it was announced that the 27-year-old Dutchman, last year’s Formula E champion last year, will become Yuki Tsunoda’s new partner and that Gasly will move to Alpine.

This decision by Alpine, which cost them so much, shows that Gasly had their preference, although there were also other candidates who did not have to pay compensation.

One of them was Daniel Ricciardo, who will leave McLaren at the end of the season, and the team will pay him significant compensation for the early termination of the contract. However, there was a theory in the British press that the Australian could not accept Alpine’s offer even if they were interested in his services.

It is possible that his agreements with McLaren include a clause that says that if he signs a 2023 contract with another team, the fee paid to him – in part or in full – must be returned.

It is unlikely that such a scenario would suit Ricciardo – perhaps that is why he told reporters last weekend that he would not be driving in Formula 1 next year. Perhaps he will try to follow the example of Fernando Alonso, with whom it is McLaren team once broke up, also paying a fee, but provided the Spaniard takes a long enough “sabbatical” and then he doesn’t have to return this money.

As Pierre Gasly has become a very expensive asset to Alpine, this puts an extra responsibility on him and he will have to try to justify the trust of the team. However, he has long since made sure that he is quite ready to take on the toughest tasks – given Alpine’s ambitious plans, there is no doubt that there will be no shortage of them.