Pierre Gasly says he is ready to be a natural leader at Alpine's Formula 1 team after a smooth integration at Enstone against a rocky backdrop.
Having joined Alpine in 2023, Gasly's arrival coincided with the major upheaval within the Enstone-based squad, with senior personnel changes that continued this year.
Flavio Briatore returned as an advisor to Renault CEO Luca de Meo, bringing in Hitech chief Oliver Oakes as team principal.
Against the backdrop of all those changes and a lack of competitiveness of its 2024 car, Gasly is nevertheless keeping faith in the future, having extended his contract a few weeks ago.
And with team-mate Esteban Ocon leaving Alpine for Haas in 2025, he is set to become the natural leader of the squad going forward, a process that he feels has already been taking place by itself.
"At the end of the day it's something that was quite natural," Gasly tells Autosport. "I'm a very driven person. I'm very focused in my work and I'm trying to be very close to the people I work with. I’m very demanding of myself and the same way goes with the people that I work with."
"I don't feel I've done anything in particular because everything is quite natural to me and that's a bit my vision of working with the team and trying to make one, in a way."
"Obviously, I think we've managed to get to a very trustful and efficient place in this environment we've built up. And the confidence and the trust I got in the guys and they got in me just increased throughout the first season and still this year, and I think we both appreciate the efforts we're doing on both sides."
Gasly says Alpine has been able to give him the necessary flexibility to start thriving, respecting his need for freedom.
"The team was very good at giving me the freedom and the transparency that I need to build the trust initially and it was very open channels of communication on how they work, how I work, what they like, what I like, and trying to find a healthy place for everyone, and I think they also know the way I am," he explains.
"I am asking questions and, I’m someone that likes information, I like to understand what's going on. I like to understand what we're doing on the car, which way we are doing things and why we're doing it that way."
"They've been good at being transparent and very honest in that way and always that reflection on how we can make things better.
"I think as a driver I'm a person that needs my space, I need my freedom. I have my personality. I think we all have different personalities inside the paddock. But I need my space to perform at my best and on and off the track. And I think they've been very good at providing this."
Strengthening long-term relationships
At the end of June, Gasly opted to stay Alpine with the 2026 regulations in mind. Regardless of the identity of his future team-mate, with Jack Doohan mooted as the most realistic option, it is essential for him to unite the team around him, forging a strong and lasting relationship in the mould of Michael Schumacher at Ferrari or Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes.
"It's no secret why you see guys like Lewis [Hamilton] working so long with the same race engineer and people sticking with people they know, because you build that trust and that communication process where no one's afraid of telling things how they are, whether it's good or bad," he points out.
"Over a full season there are a couple of situations where it makes you make the right choice or the right change because they understand exactly what you need and that's where you find the last few hundredths of performance."
"It's not an easy time. Obviously last year wasn't as good as we would have liked, but we still came out of it with three podiums as a team, and this year clearly is tougher on them."
"Personally, it is not nice to be performing the way we are, but at the same time I really see the efforts they're doing.
"I'm sure that with that type of mentality we have at the moment, there'll be a turnaround and we'll be able to get the performance out of the team."
