Pierre Gasly

Pierre Gasly is a talented French racing driver who made a debut in Formula 1 World Championship in 2017 with Toro Rosso. He then spent his first full season in F1 with Toro Rosso before moving to Red Bull Racing in 2019, but in the same season he returned to Toro Rosso.

In 2017, Gasly finished as a vice-champion in the Japanese Super Formula Championship. Earlier in a career, he won the 2013 Formula Renault Eurocup and the 2016 GP2 Series titles.

Pierre Gasly

Successful years in karting competitions

Pierre Gasly was born in Rouen, the city in northern France, on February 7, 1996. When he was 9 years old, Pierre for the first time raced mini kart, while in 2006 he began to compete in karting. In 2007, Gasly finished 4th in the French championship and after that, he moved up to the French Cadet Championship.

Pierre spent another two years racing in various karting categories at the national and international level. His biggest achievement was the 2nd place in KF3 category of the CIK-FIA European Championship.

Pierre Gasly during his karting racing days

Debut in formula racing in 2011

In 2011, at the age of 15, Gasly debuted in the French Formula 4 Championship driving for Autosport Academy. Pierre immediately proved what he is capable of achieving good results as he finished 3rd overall. He scored 4 victories and a total of 7 podiums.

The following year, Gasly moved to Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0. He was driving for R-Ace GP team and scored two podiums out of 14 races before finishing 10th in the Drivers’ championship. Pierre also raced in seven Formula Renault 2.0 NEC events.

Pierre Gasly in 2012, his first season in the Formula Renault

Formula Renault Eurocup champion in 2013

The Frenchman stayed in the series for another season but switched to Tech 1 Racing team. That proved to be decisive in his attempt to win the title. Pierre won three races in 2013, won four pole positions and had a total of eight podium finishes on his way to the throne. Gasly collected a total of 195 points and won the title with an advantage of 16 points to a runner-up Oliver Rowland.

After a successful campaign, Gasly again changed the competition. In 2014, he entered Formula Renault 3.5 Series as a driver of Arden Motorsport. Pierre didn’t win any of 17 races but finished the season as a runner-up, losing to Carlos Sainz Jr by 35 points.

Pierre Gasly is Red Bull Junior Team driver

2014 - GP2 Series debut and Red Bull Formula 1 team reserve driver

The same year Gasly drove for Caterham in six races of GP2 Series. He jumped into the seat of Tom Dillmann at Monza but the results weren’t notable. However, Gasly picked some experience and drew the attention of big teams, especially during the post-season testing.

In 2015, Gasly joined DAMS team and the Frenchman, backed by Red Bull, had an opportunity to test himself in the competition which is a springboard to Formula 1. The season wasn’t as good as it was expected. Gasly scored three pole positions and four podium places and with 110 points he finished 8th overall.

Parallel to his GP2 duties, later in 2015, Pierre became the reserve driver for the Red Bull Formula 1 team.

Piere Gasly - 2016 GP2 Series champion

GP2 Series champion in 2016

Pierre signed with Prema Racing team at the end of 2015 and was teamed with rookie Antonio Giovinazzi. The two battled throughout the whole season and secured Teams’ championship title for Prema Racing. It was a very tight battle between two talented drivers. In the final round at Yas Marina Gasly won the first race and took the championship title.

During 2016 Gasly won the races at Silverstone, Hungaroring, Spa (his favorite circuit), and Abu Dhabi. He also had other five podium finishes, and also five pole positions and three fastest laps which helped him a lot to grab the crown as he was only eight points ahead of Giovinazzi at the end of that campaign.

"My only goal is to get into Formula 1, so I will always keep pushing for that, but of course you always need an opportunity," said Gasly when he won the GP2 Series title.

Gasly triumphed two times in the 2017 Super Formula Championship

2017 - Super Formula vice-champion and F1 rookie

There was no vacant seat on the Formula 1 grid in 2017 so Gasly was sent to compete in the Japanese premier open-wheel competition, the Super Formula Championship. Driving the #15 Honda for Team Mugen, he was a race winner two times, entering the season's finale just half a point behind championship leader Hiroaki Ishiura. He had no chance to fight for the title because the last round was cancelled due to typhoon.

In 2017, Gasly made a debut in the Formula E Championship, driving for Renault d.dams in a double-header event in New York, but more important is that he made a debut in Formula One, joining Scuderia Toro Rosso as a replacement for Danill Kvyat at Malaysian Grand Prix. Until the end of the season, he participated in five Grand Prix races, finishing best in 12th place at Brazilian Grand Prix.

Pierre Gasly F1 podium

Maiden F1 podium at the Brazilian Grand Prix

In 2018, Gasly joined Toro Rosso as a full-time driver of the #10 STR13-Honda. The highlight of the season was the fourth place at Bahrain Grand Prix in the second round of the championship. After that, Gasly was among the point-scorers just four more times, finishing 15th in the points.

For the 2019 F1 season, Gasly made a step up in the Red Bull hierarchy, joining the main team as a teammate to Max Verstappen. But, the team wasn't satisfied with his results and he was demoted back to Toro Rosso from the 13th rounds, switching places with Alex Albon In the penultimate race of the season, the Brazilian Grand Prix, he reached his maiden F1 podium by finishing second. At the end of the season, he was seventh in the points.

Photo: pierregasly.com redbulljuniorteam.com planetf1.com gp2series.com