Pierre Gasly will forever remember his dinner with Michael Jordan this week in Miami, calling the three-hour one-on-one with the NBA icon "the best experience" in his life.
The AlphaTauri charger hooked up with the former Chicago Bulls legend thanks to one of his personal sponsors who is well acquainted with Jordan.
The 59-year-old basketball player played fifteen season in the NBA, winning six championships with the Bulls. Today, 'MJ' is the principal owner of the Charlotte Hornets but also of NASCAR Cup Series outfit 23XI Racing.
"It was by far the best experience of my life," said Gasly on Thursday in Miami.
"The most inspiring dinner I’ve ever had. Since a kid I’ve always been inspired by this guy, his mentality and the success he’s had in these years.
"Everyone says you should never meet your idol, because you can only be disappointed, but this was the complete opposite.
Unforgettable dinner. @Jumpman23 👑 pic.twitter.com/sYu1eMzcNx
— PIERRE GASLY 🇫🇷 (@PierreGASLY) May 4, 2022
"The guy is just a genius, in another league, the way he is thinking intellectually. I was very, very impressed.
"I didn’t know he’s a massive F1 fan. He almost knows the sport better than I do! It was very impressive and just great to discuss with such a legend.
"So, it was a great dinner. My personal sponsor is quite close to him and managed to organise it. A dinner I’ll remember all my life."
Gasly gifted a helmet to Jordan, while the Hall of Famer signed the French driver's Air Jordans.
"I gave him one of my helmets, he signed one of my Jordans – so that’s going in my safe at home, my trophy cabinet!" laughed Gasly.
"Exchanging with such a champion, you always learn so much about these guys and how they approach sports, success and failures.
"It’s all about how you maintain this level of performances, I don’t think there was anyone else in the world that I’d like to have met more than him."
The pair inevitably talked about Jordan's NASCAR team that currently fields Bubba Wallace and Kurt Busch.
"Of course we talked about that, we talked about a lot of things," Gasly said.
"We spent three hours together – we talked NASCAR, motorsport… I didn’t know he woke up early on Sunday mornings to watch our F1 races. He’s a huge fan.
“But it’s not easy if you’re Michael Jordan to show up at events like this, even if you’d like to. Even if we don’t see him [at the track] he follows us.
"I was quite amazed about how much details he knew about our sport. It shows he has a massive interest for motorsports."
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