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Pierre Gasly recalls a long phone call he had with Sebastian Vettel in 2016 as the four-time world champion advised him on his situation with Red Bull back then. The AlphaTauri driver revealed that the German, who was with Ferrari back then, took the time to advise him about his career, with whom he has shared a close bond ever since.
Speaking to the on-site media ahead of the 2022 Hungarian GP, Gasly said:
“I had the chance, when I entered into the Red Bull programme, to get closer to him for his last season in Red Bull, see how much effort [he made], see his work ethic inside the team, his dedicated for the sport. I always remember when I won my GP2 title and I didn’t get promoted to Formula 1 straight away – I was in Singapore when this happened – I remember calling him one night and I just wanted like five minutes to get his opinion about it and get his view and try to get some advice on how to deal with the Red Bull situation. It turned out to be a one-and-a-half hour call.”
Upon winning the GP2 title, Gasly had to a take a year off after not being promoted to an F1 drive. He said his call with the four-time world champion helped him cope with the situation.
Pierre Gasly believes Sebastian Vettel advised him on how to cope with Red Bull
The French driver revealed that the long phone call with Sebastian Vettel led to a close bond between the duo after the German champion advised him on how to handle the Red Bull situation. Gasly was grateful that Vettel prioritized talking to him and advising him on a tricky situation in his career.
Elaborating more on his conversation with Vettel, Gasly said:
“At the time it was like ‘you’re an F1 driver racing for Ferrari – in your list of priorities, I’m very, very low,’ but he still took 90 minutes to speak with me and advise me on how to cope with the situation, how to deal with Red Bull, gave me advice on how to make the situation progress. This I’ll always be very, very grateful for. Then after that, we always kind of kept quite a close relationship, had a couple of dinners together. I think he’s a fantastic driver, but also a great human being.”
Sebastian Vettel’s announcement to retire at the end of the 2022 season moved many of his compatriots. Drivers and teams were quick to respond and pay tribute to his career and honor him as a great human being and individual in the sport.
