Gasly arrival could mean friendship or friction for Alpine

Pierre Gasly joining fellow-Frenchman Esteban Ocon at the Renault-owned Alpine Formula One team next season could be a recipe for friction or a renewal of friendship, if not both.
The pair, each 26 and from the same region of Normandy in northern France, have been friends and rivals for some 20 years but things have turned sour between them since their early karting days.
Team boss Otmar Szafnauer said after yesterday’s announcement at the Japanese Grand Prix that he hoped the pairing would be a positive move for them and Alpine.
“We spoke to both of them and they both said they’ll be professional, they’ll work together to drive the team forward,” he said.
“If there’s a little friction as well, that could be a good thing.  But I think working closely together, as they said they will do, perhaps that friendship can be rekindled.”
Gasly, speaking to the Formula One website, was not ruling that out.
“It’s an opportunity for both of us to get back to a similar relationship that we had in the past,” he said.
“What was the probability that two six-year-old kids from Normandy, France, living 20 minutes from each other, would end up 20 years later as teammates in a French team? I think that is incredible and a very special story.”
The possibility had been dismissed by some observers, when first mooted in August as Alpine were caught up in a summer drama of driver moves, as too divisive.
Ocon had openly backed Mick Schumacher as his choice to replace departing double world champion Fernando Alonso, who had stunned Alpine by announcing at the start of the August break that he was joining Aston Martin for 2023.
Australian reserve Oscar Piastri then rejected the opportunity to take Alonso’s seat and signed to race for McLaren.
“I think there’s no question Esteban did not want Pierre in his team, it would’ve been the last person he wanted,” commented former F1 racer turned pundit Paul di Resta on Sky Sports television.
Szafnauer was at Force India (the team that is now Aston Martin) when Ocon and Mexican Sergio Perez clashed repeatedly on track in 2018 and has plenty of experience of dealing with internal tensions.
This time he has two race winners, both in surprising circumstances – Ocon in Hungary in 2021 and Gasly in Italy the year before.
Ocon has started 106 races and Gasly 103 and there is very little to separate their career points tallies and podium appearances.
Neither will see themselves in a supporting role but both will be keen for a fresh challenge.
For Gasly, that means finally leaving the Red Bull umbrella that he started out under in 2017.
While greatly appreciated at AlphaTauri, the Red Bull sister team, he was never going to be promoted back alongside world champion Max Verstappen after being dropped in 2019.
Like Spaniard Carlos Sainz, who left what was then Toro Rosso for Renault in 2017 and is now at Ferrari after a stint at McLaren, new opportunities beckon.
“It feels right. It feels like the right step to match my ambitions and targets. I’m very excited about it,” he said.