With Alpine yet to complete their driver lineup for 2025, Pierre Gasly has publicly weighed in on who he believes is the "best option" to fill the remaining seat at the French team.
Gasly throws his support behind Carlos Sainz, suggesting the Spaniard has "slightly more to offer" than Alpine's current junior drivers, Jack Doohan and Mick Schumacher.
While both Doohan and Schumacher have impressed within the Alpine camp, Gasly sees Sainz's experience as a key advantage.
Doohan is currently undergoing a private testing programme with Alpine while he has also been praised for his simulator work by team boss Bruno Famin.
As for Schumacher, the young German, who is also affiliated with Alpine through its WEC hypercar team, has two years of F1 experience under his name.
However, the sudden emergence of Sainz as a candidate for Alpine’s vacant seat – thanks to an initiative of the always opportunistic Flavio Briatore, the Enstone squad’s recently appointed executive advisor – is a potential windfall as far as Gasly is concerned.
"Honestly, I'll be happy no matter what," Gasly said, quoted by RacingNews365 ahead of this weekend’s British Grand Prix.
"As a competitive person, I want the most competitive [driver as my team-mate] out there next to me and to push the team.
"I think all [are] three great options. Obviously, Carlos [Sainz] has the the added value of having a lot of experience and also experiencing strong teams - McLaren, Ferrari lately.
"So obviously, he's got slightly more to bring and that'll obviously be [the] best option.
"Looking at Jack and Mick, they're both very talented, very fast. They're both already included in the team, they know the guys, and I'm sure they'll fit very well."
Sainz reiterated at Silverstone on Thursday his intention of taking all the time he needs to decide his future, with – reportedly – offers from Williams, Audi-Sauber and now Alpine to consider.
The Spaniard acknowledged that making a call today with no visibility about where a potential team will be performing several years from now is a challenging exercise.
“There’s a bit of guessing, a bit of luck, a bit of trying to educate yourself on what is happening around in Formula One,” he said.
“What I’ve thought about is don’t judge the move in the short-term or in the next few races or in the next year.
“You always need to see and criticise or analyse a driver’s move with perspective in time. Was this the right move for Carlos in five years’ time or not?”
Gasly reckons that Sainz’s lingering decision has put a temporary hold on the driver market, with all the pieces likely falling into place once the outgoing Ferrari driver chooses his next team.
"I think it's quite clear at the minute, you got more drivers than you got seats available," Gasly added.
"So, some guys [are] gonna stay on the sideline and I don't think we'll see a lot of movement until Carlos [Sainz], which is the most valuable guy out there at the minute, takes a decision on where he goes."
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