Pierre Gasly says that he was "close to seeing tears" in Franz Tost’s eyes when the AlphaTauri team boss learned of the Frenchman’s future move to Alpine.
The announcement in early August of Fernando Alonso’s departure from the Enstone squad to join Aston Martin thrusted F1’s driver market into overdrive.
Alpine had initially planned to replace the Spaniard with junior driver Oscar Piastri, but did the French outfit know at the time that the young Aussie had already signed with McLaren.
Alpine than set its sights on prying Gasly away from AlphaTauri, a move to which Red Bull conditionally agreed if IndyCar star Colton Herta was granted an F1 superlicence by the FIA.
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When the governing body refused to give the young American a free pass, Gasly’s chances of moving to Alpine appeared slim, until Red Bull’s Helmut Marko took a keen interest in Nyck de Vries after the Dutchman’s remarkable F1 debut in the Italian Grand Prix at Monza.
Eventually, a contract was drawn up for de Vries for 2023, paving the way for Gasly’s release and future transfer to Alpine, much to the chagrin of Tost who had mentored the Frenchman during his early days with Red Bull.
“I’m really thankful for that,” Gasly told Formula1.com.
“They understood straight away the opportunity it was for me and also my desire to start something new and my will to fight at the front of the grid and they kind of understood that quite quickly.
“Especially Helmut [Marko] and Christian [Horner] as well – I had long conversations with Helmut.
“I was close to seeing tears in Franz’s eyes once he got the news because we obviously had a very strong relationship and we’ve been working extremely well together.”
It was time for Gasly to move on but after nearly six seasons in the Red Bull family, leaving became an emotional affair for some, including for the usually unflappable Tost.
“So it was something that has been discussed with all parties and it was tougher for some than for some others,” added Gasly.
“But at the end of the day they all understood what an opportunity it was for me and they worked around it to make it up and I’m very thankful for that.”
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