Early Life
Pierre Gasly was born on 7 February 1996 in Rouen, France. He shared a daring bond with his father, Jean Jacques Gasly, and his mother, Pascale. He was exposed to the world of auto racing at an early age. His grandfather participated in karting activities, while his dad appeared for several competitions in rallying and karting. As the youngest child, he shared his early life with his four half-brothers. Pierre’s first experience of karting was at the age of 6.
Pierre Gasly – Early Career
1) Karting
Gasly made his first move into competitive karting when he was ten years old. He secured the fifteenth position at the French Minime Championship in 2006. He participated in the French Cadet Championship in late 2008. Gasly made his international debut in 2009. He stayed in the KF3 category until 2010 when he finished as the second-placed rider in the CIK-FIA European Championships.
2) Formula Renault
After a year of training, Geasly was ready to compete in the 1.6-liter French F4 Championship in 2011. He secured the third position in the competition, with seven podiums altogether. Later he got first place positions at Albi, Spa, and Le Castellet.
In 2012, Gasly switched to the Formula Renault Eurocup’s 2-liter machinery. He appeared seven times in the Formula Renault 2.0 Northern European Cup. A podium finish at Spa and the Nurburgring helped him finish tenth overall, earning him six points.
During the 2013 season, Gasly joined Tech One Racing. He secured splendid wins at Le Castellet, Moscow, and the Hungaroring. In Catalonia, Spain, he had an 11-point lead. He won the championship with 3rd and 6th-place finishes.
As part of the Red Bull Junior Team’s development program, the driver moved to Formula Renault 3.5 Series in 2014. His season ended with eight podiums in seventeen races and a runner-up finish behind Carlos Sainz.
3) GP2 Series
Pirre Gasly competed in the GP2 Series for the first time in 2014 at the Monza circuit. A few weeks later, he drove for DAMS in post-season testing and was signed by the French team. Despite winning four podiums, three pole positions, and colliding in Bahrain and Spa, Gasly finished eighth. Prema Powerteam became Gasly’s new team in 2016. This led to him winning the GP2 Series that year.
4) Japanese Super Formula
At the 2017 Super Formula Championship, Gasly secured two wins. He was signed under Team Mugen and provided a Red Bull-sponsored Honda that season.
5) Formula E
Gasly’s first Formula E appearance was with Renault e.dams. Despite qualifying 19th, Gasly finished seventh in his first-weekend race. When fighting for third in the second race, Gasly had a minor accident and, with many difficulties, finished fourth.
Pierre Gasly – Formula One Career
Gasly joined the Red Bull Junior Team in December 2013 for the 2014 F1 season. In May 2015, he took part in his first Formula One season at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. He completed 203 laps in two different cars – a Toro Rosso STR10 on the first day and a Red Bull RB11 on the second day.
Red Bull Racing tested him for the RB11. In September, he was announced as a reserve driver at Red Bull. Gasly tested for both Scuderia Toro Rosso and Red Bull Racing in 2016 and 2017.
1) Toro Rosso (2017–2018)
The 2017 Malaysian Grand Prix was Gasly’s first Formula One race, and he won it. At the Malaysian and Japanese Grand Prix, he failed to score points. Gasly could not take a seat in Austin due to a collision in the 2017 Super Formula Championship. As for the Mexican Grand Prix, he rejoined the team and won the race.
Pierre Gasly joined Toro Rosso for 2018. Gasly qualified 6th for the Bahrain Grand Prix, then moved up to 5th when Lewis Hamilton was disqualified due to plenty. He finished the race in 4th place and achieved his first Formula One point finish. Gasly finished 7th at the Monaco Grand Prix and 6th at the Hungarian Grand Prix the same season. In the championship standings, he finished 15th overall with 29 points.
2) Red Bull (2019)
Gasly signed a contract with Red Bull Racing to drive in the 2019 Formula One season alongside Verstappen. The RB15 was a challenge for Gasly. He set the fastest lap in both the Monaco and Chinese Grand Prix, which he repeated in both races. After Sebastian Vettel and Verstappen collided ahead of him, he finished fourth at the British Grand Prix, recording his most outstanding achievement at Red Bull.
Max Verstappen surpassed Pierre Gasly at the Hungarian Grand Prix. Gasly was sixth in the championship ahead of Carlos Sainz Jr. with 63 points at the summer break, driving the inferior McLaren.
3) Return to Toro Rosso (2019)
Pierre Gasly was demoted to the junior team before the Belgian Grand Prix 2019 started. Christian Horner had this to say about Gasly’s departure: “After the break, Pierre should take some time to reflect on what he learned, and then apply what he’s learned in the second half of the year. We urgently need him to maximise the car’s potential.”
As for the rest of the season, Gasly scored five points, including a 9th-place finish in his first race back with Toro Rosso in Belgium. At the Brazilian Grand Prix, he achieved his best result. Gasly qualified in seventh place, with Bottas retiring early in the race, which gave him the opportunity to hold off Hamilton and finish in second place. Gasly secured his first podium finish and paved the best result for the team. At the end of the season, he finished with 95 points in 7th place in the championship standings.
4) Alpha Tauri (2020-2021)
The team retained Pierre Gasly as they switched their name to Scuderia AlphaTauri. He finished seventh in the British and Austrian Grand Prix, his best results. In the season’s first seven races, Gasly scored four points finishes.
Gasly managed to pass several drivers at the Italian Grand Prix of 2020. He overpowered Carlos Sainz Jr. and got his first Formula One victory. This milestone declared him the 109th race winner and the first French driver to win a Grand Prix. After scoring 75 points, he ended the championship with a tenth position.
In 2021, AlphaTauri signed up Pierre Gasly’s again with Yuki Tsunoda as their partner. For the third podium of his career, Gasly competed at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix with Charles Leclerc and Lando Norris. From position four to fifth early on in the race, Gasly benefited from Max Verstappen’s and Lewis Hamilton’s technical problems. He retired from the Italian Grand Prix in 2021 due to a crash out.