Gasly’s major Alpine hint: “I don’t have to stay at AlphaTauri all my life”

The AlphaTauri driver finished eighth in the F1 Italian Grand Prix before addressing a potential switch.

“At some point we’ll get news,” he said to Sky. “There are a couple of things which need to be sorted before I can talk about this situation.

“At the moment this is out of my control. I am trying to give the best for my team.

“We know the situation. I think [Red Bull consultant Helmut Marko] has been pretty clear.

“These guys [AlphaTauri] gave me my first win in F1 and my first chance in F1 - it doesn’t mean I have to stay there all my life! 

“I have ambitions. I am in F1 to fight at the front, this is what I want.

“It has been five years with AlphaTauri. We’ll see if I do another year there. At the moment, this is what’s planned.

“If this is what happens, I will give 100 percent for the team.”

Alpine, the French team, want an all-French duo to complete their 2023 driver line-up. Esteban Ocon is already signed up.

Fernando Alonso’s exit to Aston Martin, and Alpine’s failure to tie down Oscar Piastri who will go to McLaren, have created a space which they intend to fill with Gasly, by buying him out of the final year of his contract with AlphaTauri, who are Red Bull’s sister team.

“As it stands I am driving for AlphaTauri and I am happy with that,” Gasly said. “There are only positives.

“We will see what happens over the next few weeks.”