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Pierre Gasly's move to Alpine seems imminent as reports have emerged that AlphaTauri has signed Nyck de Vries for the 2023 season. According to CANAL+, Red Bull has struck a deal with the Dutch driver to drive for its sister team next season.
On its official Twitter handle, the publication posted:
“According to our information, Nyck de Vries has signed with AlphaTauri”
There had been rumors that Nyck de Vries had met Helmut Marko to discuss the possibility of a drive at AlphaTauri. De Vries even acknowledged that he had met Marko, although he did concede that his future was out of his hands. He had said:
“I don’t quite know if I am in such a luxury situation that I can choose. Largely, that is beyond my control. I have been in talks with Williams for a long time, and I was also able to make my debut there last weekend. That would be a logical step. Alpine I have been in contact with since July, and I will test for them in Budapest next week. I will fly there on Monday. And as the media had noticed yesterday, I went to Austria to meet Helmut Marko. Those are the fact.”
What this does is open the door for Pierre Gasly to move to Alpine for next season. The only obstacle for the French driver was Red Bull not finding a replacement for the second seat. With Nyck de Vries lined up, Gasly can move out of AlphaTauri.
Earlier this weekend, when asked about his future, Gasly had said that he would have a clear answer in 2-3 weeks. With the De Vries angle coming to light, it does become clear what Gasly was hinting towards. He had said:
“Obviously everybody knows the ongoing conversation and discussion but on my side, I think, hopefully in the next two, three weeks, hopefully we should have a clear answer on my future. But yeah, so far, nothing has changed and when there will be something confirmed on my future, I’m sure you guys will know about it.”
I don't have any expectations for Singapore: Pierre Gasly
Looking ahead to the weekend, Pierre Gasly admitted that he did not have too many expectations for the race. AlphaTauri tends to struggle on high downforce tracks and Singapore was one of them. He said:
“I think we’ve been slightly more competitive in low downforce tracks, so Spa was good, Monza was good but all the tracks with high downforce, we seem to struggle a bit more. So hopefully these upgrades we have this weekend can change a bit that picture. We know the McLarens are usually pretty fast in these conditions. Alpine sometimes are really fast, these guys have done as well. So I don’t really have any expectations.”
Pierre Gasly's move to Alpine would mean an all-French line-up for the French team. Ironically, this takes place at a time when the F1 French GP has not found a place on the calendar.
