The F1 driver market is hot on the internet and there are two drivers who are trending. One is Nyck de Vries, who will join AlphaTauri next season, and the other is Pierre Gasly, who vacates the Italian team to move to Alpine. Even though both the drivers seemed happy with the moves, the AlphaTauri boss was a bit disinclined.

The moves come right ahead of the 2022 Japanese Grand Prix, as Gasly is all set to replace the outgoing Fernando Alonso in 2023. However, AlphaTauri team boss Franz Tost was reluctant to let his star driver leave the team.

Talking about this, Otmar Szafnauer, the team principal of the Alpine F1 team, stated, “I started talking not with Helmut but with Franz, and I said to him: ‘We have a bucket to fill and we think that Pierre is the right choice for the future’.” [Translated using Google]

“And Franz was, and is the reason why I feel particularly good today, dismissive and saying: ‘No, Pierre is a great pilot and I don’t want him to go’.”

READ MORE: Despite Explosive Past, Pierre Gasly Opens Up on Relationship With Future F1 Teammate Esteban Ocon Amid Growing Fan Worries

Pierre Gasly joins the French team and his compatriot Esteban Ocon to form a complete French squad for the 2023 F1 season. The duo has some interesting F1 statistics, with Gasly having 103 race starts as compared to Ocon’s 106. Both the drivers have one win in their bag as well while Gasly has amassed 332 career points as compared to Ocon’s 338.

Pierre Gasly shares the story of emotional Franz Tost

As the Frenchman Pierre Gasly is all set to join the team from his country next year, not everyone could accept the news wholeheartedly. Tost, the team principal of his current team, was in ‘tears’ as shared by Gasly himself.

In an interview with F1 and Lawrence Barretto, the 26-year-old driver stated, “I was close to seeing tears in Franz’s eyes when he got the news, as we have a very strong relationship – we’ve been working extremely well together.”

“Something that was discussed with both parties, it was tougher for some than for some others, but at the end of the day, they all understood what an opportunity it was for me,” concluded the former Red Bull driver.

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The Frenchman wanted to make a move as he most probably wanted to go up the ‘pecking order’ and it seems it was taken well by the Red Bull family.