Gasly moves to the Alpine Formula 1 team, as a big decision is made by his team to bring in the replacement as fast as possible. Pierre Gasly’s departure from AlphaTauri has been confirmed and the French driver will join Alpine next season. Indeed, his team has made Nyck de Vries his replacement and the Dutchman could make his debut earlier than expected. Indeed, AlphaTauri plans to run him in Abu Dhabi.
“Of course I will miss Pierre Gasly. He is an excellent driver, we had great success together, he scored a lot of points. But we will have Nyck de Vries, another driver, and we will see what happens”, said Franz Tost, the sporting director of AlphaTauri.
The team is ready to turn the page on Gasly and is looking forward to his successor Nyck de Vries.
“I want to integrate him into the team as soon as possible.”
AlphaTauri is already preparing for the aftermath of Pierre Gasly and has planned to have Nyck de Vries drive in the young drivers’ test in Abu Dhabi.
“I’ve had a lot of contact with him. He was in Faenza, they moulded his seat and I also met him yesterday. We always have discussions together. It’s very interesting, very important to know each other. And I want to integrate him into the team as soon as possible,
“He will do the young drivers’ test for us in Abu Dhabi, where he can get to know the car and the team. Then we’ll see. We have a good programme for him during the winter months to prepare him in the best possible way for 2023,” said Franz Tost.
“If we have a very good car, it will be easy for the drivers to adjust it.”
The aim of the test is to allow de Vries to adapt to his future car. His future sporting director promises a great duo with Yuki Tsunoda.
“Tsunoda can lead the team, but the most decisive part will not be how the drivers lead the team, it will be how the car is. If we have a very good car, it will be easy for the drivers to set it up, and the whole technical aspect. Yuki Tsunoda and Nyck de Vries are able to do that. And if the car works the way we hope it will, it will be an easier exercise for both of them,” says Franz Tost.
Dutchman Nyck de Vries will start his work as a regular driver for AlphaTauri at the end of November during the young drivers’ test in Abu Dhabi.
On 22 November, the Formula 1 teams will remain at the Yas Marina circuit in Abu Dhabi following the final race of the 2022 season to take part in the young driver tests with Pirelli. Nyck de Vries, who has signed a multi-year contract with the AlphaTauri team from the 2023 season onwards, has been given permission to start with his new team at these tests.
De Vries made his Grand Prix debut with Williams in Italy this year as a late replacement for Alexander Albon, who was hospitalised with appendicitis, and scored the first points of his career with a ninth place finish at the event.
In total this season, De Vries drove no less than four cars: the Mercedes W13 twice in FP1 in France and Mexico, the Williams FW44 in Monza, the Aston Martin in FP1 at Monza and the Alpine in a private test at the Hungaroring track in Budapest.
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