Pierre Gasly backs ‘experienced and valuable’ Carlos Sainz as preferred team mate at Alpine in 2025

Pierre Gasly says that Carlos Sainz is his preferred choice of team mate at Alpine for 2025, with the Frenchman believing that the departing Ferrari driver is the “most experienced and valuable” option available.

It was confirmed in June that Gasly – who joined the squad in 2023 – had signed a multi-year extension to keep him with the Enstone outfit for next season and beyond. However, with Esteban Ocon’s impending exit from the team announced just a few weeks earlier, a vacancy alongside Gasly remains.

Several names have been linked to the seat, including Alpine junior drivers Jack Doohan and Victor Martins as well as current Kick Sauber pilots Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu and former F1 driver Mick Schumacher, who has been competing for Alpine in the World Endurance Championship as well as recently testing a 2022-spec Alpine Formula 1 car.

However, for Gasly the clear favourite is Sainz, a man who remains at the centre of driver market speculation as many await his decision on where he will drive in 2025.

SPIELBERG, AUSTRIA - JUNE 29: Esteban Ocon of France and Alpine F1 and Pierre Gasly of France and — Gasly's current team mate Ocon will depart Alpine at the end of 2024

Asked ahead of the British Grand Prix if he is having any say in who will race alongside him at Alpine next season, Gasly answered: “Not really, it’s not up to me. I can obviously see until I’m discussing with Bruno [Famin] and with the whole management on trying to tell them what’s my personal opinion.

“I think it’s quite clear, Carlos is the most experienced and most valuable guy out there. I would love to have him next to me next year, I think he’ll bring definitely a lot to the team and we’ll be a great pairing.

“But we’ve got also some very good options – we’ve got Jack, we’ve got Mick who’s been in F1, and we just have different great options.”

For now Gasly’s focus is on the remainder of the 2024 season as Alpine continue to make steps forward following a tough start to the year. After breaking his points duck in Monaco, the 28-year-old has gone on to score at every event since, marking four consecutive top-10 finishes.

SPIELBERG, AUSTRIA - JUNE 30: Pierre Gasly of France driving the (10) Alpine F1 A524 Renault on — Gasly has scored points at the last four race weekends

“I think the team is doing well,” Gasly commented when asked what has made the difference since the beginning of the campaign. “It’s really like sticking together since the start of the year.

“We’re all extremely disappointed with the sort of performance we got out of the car, but we just looked at ourselves [and] always tried to improve on all areas.

“The team did a fantastic job reducing the car weight at the start of the year, improving small bits and pieces there and really focusing on what we can do, be self-objective and work on every single part we can to improve the end result on a Sunday.

“I think we’ve been operating very well these last few weekends. Obviously the car is still where it is and we wish we could add more performance to fight the top eight, but at the minute we know what the target is and what we should focus on with the package we’ve got, and try to maximise the opportunities to grab a point or two here.”