Formula 1 News: Gasly called management after shock CEO exit

(GMM) Pierre Gasly (pictured) admits he followed through after expressing concerns about the shock departure of Renault CEO Luca de Meo.

De Meo, who is heading to the parent company of Italian fashion house Gucci, not only brought in Flavio Briatore as his personal executive F1 advisor, but was the architect of the entire Alpine strategy in Formula 1.

Gasly, leading the Enstone based team from the cockpit, said of de Meo as he departed Montreal recently: “He’s the one who brought me into the team.

“I need to sit down with the management to discuss and find out what this means for the team.”

Briatore’s first reaction to the de Meo news was that it changes “nothing” about the F1 team.

But Gasly admitted in Austria he followed through with his intention to find out for himself.

“It’s something that was important to me,” he is quoted as saying by France’s L’Equipe.

“I’ve spoken to everyone on the phone – namely Luca and other people involved at the management level. I needed confirmation regarding the project I’ve been involved in since joining Alpine.

“These are normal conversations given the situation, but there are no concerns about what comes next.”

When pressed further to divulge the details of his conversations, the 29-year-old added: “I have the necessary answers, but you can understand that it’s not something I can make public.

“I will let the team go into more detail. For me, it was personally important to have these conversations, they were very clear, and everything is very clear in my head. That’s the most important thing.”

The Frenchman acknowledges that recent and ongoing unrest is a subject of conversation up and down the corridors at Enstone and in the pit garage.

“At Enstone, some people are asking questions and that’s legitimate,” said Gasly. “But Flavio has already given answers and everyone knows where they stand.

“It doesn’t change anything about the work to be done or the evolution of the team.”

On track, Alpine is enduring another difficult season, but Gasly said a major priority is the team’s work on the 2026 project, including the switch to customer Mercedes power and gearboxes.

“We should be much more competitive,” he said when asked about 2026.

“I’m closely following the development of the new car and for the moment we’re happy with what we’re doing. We don’t know where the others are, but we have a vague idea of what we think is acceptable and for the moment we’re holding the course.

“There are six months of development left. I hope that our difficult sporting situation and this tenth place in the championship will give us an advantage in terms of wind tunnel hours and that we can use this advantage as best as possible to arrive at the first 2026 tests with a car that should be in a good window.”

Testing of the 2026 cars is reportedly scheduled to begin in January.

Finally, Gasly was asked about teammate Franco Colapinto’s struggles since replacing his axed fellow rookie Jack Doohan.

“First you’re celebrated, then you’re criticized,” Gasly told Kronen Zeitung. “It changes quickly.

“Franco seems mature and focused on the essentials. We have a good relationship.”