They say the French love drama. And on the Formula 1 grid, you can’t get any more French than Alpine. The team has had its fair share of it in the past year or so—from losing a two-time world champion in Fernando Alonso and promising talent in Oscar Piastri in a month to receive a dressing down from the team boss for not delivering this year; Alpine is working toward getting better. But veteran F1 journalist Peter Windsor seems to believe that Pierre Gasly has added to the drama since he joined the Enstone outfit.

Gasly hasn’t had the most straightforward F1 career. After joining Toro Rosso (now Alpha Tauri) midway through the 2017 season, he got called up to the main Red Bull seat alongside Max Verstappen after Daniel Ricciardo’s exit in 2018. But halfway through the 2019 season, he was demoted back to Toro Rosso due to lack of performance. Having been part of the Red Bull family his entire career, he finally decided to leave the Red Bull drama behind when he decided to move to Alpine from 2023 onwards. But the drama has followed him.

Pierre Gasly & Drama: A match made in F1

In a recent YouTube Live hosted by Peter Windsor, where he discussed the big talking points before the Austrian GP this weekend, a viewer asked him about the Alpine situation. While talking about the French team with its two French drivers, Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon, he commented on their performances and form. But what he said about Gasly caught everyone’s attention.

Windsor said, “Gasly seems to attract drama wherever he goes, but when he’s drama-free, he looks pretty good.” But what drama is he referring to? Most recently, the Frenchman has been involved in a few cases of impeding on the track that hasn’t reflected well on his license. During qualifying at the Spanish GP, he impeded Carlos Sainz and Max Verstappen on flying laps and received two three-place grid penalties. So after qualifying in a mega P4, he had to start in tenth. While he managed to maintain his pace during the race and finish where he started, he believes he could’ve done better had he started higher. 

After these incidents, Alpine had to convene at its factory for a communications strategy meeting, where Gasly and his team sorted out their errors. But the drama didn’t stop there. Two weeks later, during qualifying at the Canadian GP, Sainz impeded Gasly, which knocked him out in Q1. It’s safe to say that Windsor was right about drama following Gasly, given that he’s also had his fair share of mechanical issues (Baku and Montreal) and crashes (with Ocon in Melbourne).

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Windsor also opened up about how Ocon has gotten better. He said, “Ocon is looking really good. Every time he goes out now, he does something pretty good, pretty consistent.” And while Gasly usually brings drama to the team, it was Ocon who instigated the latest drama surrounding Alpine.

Alpine’s “dangerous” new upgrade made McLaren worry

It wasn’t technically Ocon that brought the drama, more his rear wing. Alpine brought a revised rear wing to Montreal, and the one on the back of Esteban Ocon’s car was wobbling like it could fall off any second. With Lando Norris chasing the Frenchman for P8, he reported that the wobbling was getting worse every lap and became “dangerous.” But Alpine was confident it wouldn’t fall off and didn’t bring Ocon in to check the wing, and he crossed the line in P8. 

But after the race, McLaren wasn’t convinced that the rear wing wasn’t dangerous to other drivers. McLaren’s team principal Andrea Stella assured Alpine that he would bring the issue up at the next Sporting Advisory Committee meeting, giving Alpine yet another thing to add to its ever-growing drama list.

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Do you believe drama follows Gasly everywhere he goes?