Dimitri Boylan
Welcome to the Talent Transformation podcast. I’m Dimitri Boylan and I am here in Melbourne, Australia. We are a couple of days shy of the start of the 2026 Formula One season, and we have a very special guest here, the BWT Alpine Formula One driver, Pierre Gasly. Pierre, thank you so much for taking the time.
Pierre Gasly
No problem. My pleasure.
Dimitri Boylan
Yeah, it’s great to have you. You know, it’s interesting. You just came out of shakedown. You’re getting ready to race. You know, in the software world, we would say that you just came out of QA, okay, and you’re moving into production use of the new platform. And I was just curious, you know, in the offseason, your team has been building an entirely new car, right? New engine, new chassis that’s gonna make you drive it a different way.
How involved were you in the design? Did you walk in with a laundry list of things you wanted to have in a car or… What was the experience like?
Pierre Gasly
I think we do have a fair bit of input in the car, but probably a lot less than what people would imagine. So, I would say that the development of that car started already way back. You know, last year, probably early 2025 or even late 2024, as soon as the regulation change was sort of out. It’s such a massive change we’re going into in 2026 that the team tries to get a head start very early on. But yeah, we do have some input on what we like, especially the team is mainly interested in the space, in the cockpit. Like, alright, I mean, you can make it affordable. We can get it to work on weights, work on maximizing the sort of like arrow spaces they can work on. And then, you know, we’re in the factory every other week, so we see that development going through. And then whenever they have question marks on an area where we might have a preference, then they’ll obviously come forward to us.
So yeah, we partly, yeah, you know, part of it, obviously, I’ve been very involved, like trying to make sure that, you know, we hit all this important milestone to make sure that we win in the right, on the right track to, you know, start this new era of F1 cars in the best way possible. And I must say the team did a very good job getting the car ready, which was a real challenge for most of the teams. And we’ve seen many of them didn’t have their car ready.
Dimitri Boylan
Yeah, time. Yeah, right. That’s been a challenge. And people watching from the outside have been curious about, you know, why some teams are ready, why some are not. I know there’s been a lot of talk about that. Do you think that the way you dealt with the design-build stage was different because you’re an experienced driver, because you’re one of the more experienced drivers on the green right now, right?
Pierre Gasly
I would say I was more involved than I would have been early in my career. So I started like 10 years ago. No, you come fresh from like Formula 2, Formula 3, where all you’re basically focusing on is your driving, your skills, your technique. So you try to, you jump into Formula 1, into this completely new world where you are suddenly working with 15 people we go to talent, people working on the chassis side. It doesn’t come like, it’s not a gift suddenly that you’re an expert on how to deal with like that, you know, manage that many people. So it took years of experience, and obviously, now I’m way more technical and more understanding of the teamwork and what input impact, how can I make a difference in my role? And I try to deliver, you know, the best of myself to the team, whether it’s on the track or off the track, at the factory.
Dimitri Boylan
Yeah, there are obviously things that they must, I mean, they’re experts in various things, but they’re still building for a driver and an outcome, right? So they’ve got to get certain information out of you in a sense. And you’ve got to give a certain set of information. And then it’s probably a domain where you’re just, you know, there’s a domain where you’re just curious about what’s going on in this domain where you really need to think about how you give that input to them, right? And is this dimension something that you really enjoyed? I mean, how did it feel to you this year?
Pierre Gasly
My way of thinking is that the driver will always have to adapt to whatever is fastest. So let’s say, if there is any compromise to make, you’ll always go for whatever is the most competitive or brings the most performance to the car. And then the driver will have to find a way to get comfortable or adapt himself to it, which at least gives a bit more scope to the team to do whatever they think is best here.
Dimitri Boylan
How much are you thinking about? There’s not just new cars now, but there’s also new teams. And there are quite a few rookie drivers as well that are gonna be on the track. Did you, I mean, some things are unknown, but are you analyzing the competition? Are you thinking about how they race?
Pierre Gasly
So as a driver, I know every single guy on the grid. Like I know the way they race, I know their personality, I know the sort of racing skills, what type of driving they have. Obviously, on the weekends, based on different teams, different cars, I’ll know a given team is very fast in that Sector 2 is very good at breaking. That other car is very quick out of turn 6,7 or whatever. So when I go into a race, if I end up battling with that car, I know where my strengths are and where my weaknesses are. So, then after I can deal with, you know, for example, energy-level performance, energy deployments to either defend or attack in the most efficient way. So these are all types of homework that you do.
Obviously, this sort of racing instinct is something I’ve learned from racing these guys already when we were like 10 years old. I’ve raced Max, Charles, Alban, Sainz, most of that generation. We’ve known each other for like 20 years. So, you just know their mindset going into a fight, how they might place the car, what they might be thinking based on battles you’ve had over time with these guys. But then obviously, F1, it’s all about focusing on your own performance, extracting the best of your car, but also analyzing the competition in what they do well and what they might do less well compared to us. But you always, you know, gotta spy in a way, the competition to make sure you stay, you know, upfront and you’re not late on anything.
Dimitri Boylan
Right. Now, new engines, new chassis, completely new behavior, smaller car, all of these changes will change the way everybody drives to a certain extent, right?
Pierre Gasly
Yeah, again, I think it’s driving a car very fast around a racetrack, even though the cars have changed and might have fine differences in terms of car behavior, car balance ultimately requires the same senses, right? So you’re still using the same body senses to understand the limit of the grip? And this sort of same driving techniques to get on, to get the best out of the car you get given.
It’s not a massive change, I would say the biggest change for me going into 26 is really the energy management that comes way more into play with this new engine regulation, where we have a lot more, you know, energy bias. So it’s 50% electric, which means there is a lot more emphasis on using that energy in the most efficient way possible, which then affects some of the driving techniques we gotta use.
Dimitri Boylan
Yeah, it’s gonna change how much you attack. When you attack.
Pierre Gasly
You’ll have to be way wiser. You know, using it in a smart way to basically may be the most efficient. It’s very energy-biased. So yeah, we’ll have to see all these goals because we still haven’t raced with these cars.
Dimitri Boylan
Yeah, nobody really knows yet how everybody is gonna deal with this. So it’s, that’s gonna make it a very exciting season for the fans, which is great. And, you know, clearly from an engineering perspective, you know, changing the energy balance is probably useful for the teams to, you know, the auto industry uses the technology that you guys develop to further their own development of, you know, commercial vehicles.
Dimitri Boylan
I wanted to talk about the data, you know, they talk about Formula 1, the very data-driven. I’m just curious, like in the 2025 season, when you get out of a race, what’s the first thing when you go back to the data, what’s the first thing that you go back and start looking for as a driver?
Pierre Gasly
Depends on the session.
Dimitri Boylan
Okay.
Pierre Gasly
Talking about a race, qualifying.
Dimitri Boylan
A race, for example, I guess.
Pierre Gasly
A race, well, there’s so much stuff. You’ll be looking at the different things I’m interested in, I’m always analyzing my driving versus my teammate. Because obviously, we get given the same car. So that’s okay. That’s your first point of comparison.
What are you doing well? What is he doing differently? What might… To be able to pick on some of the stuff they’re using. So it might be a setup, might be a driving technique, it might be electronics that they’re using, mapping, brake shapes, or a lot of electronics we can use. Anything that might give him a bit more performance in terms of lap time or in terms of energy for the engine or in terms of tire wear, for tire degradation.
You’re looking at tire preparation in terms of out laps, you’re analyzing obviously overall pace and lap time, but the pace over like a full stint. So, most of the race will be a one or two-stop. So, you’re looking at the strategy, discussing strategy post race with the team, looking at the pace, average pace of that stint, how well did you start the stint? Have you overpushed or underpushed? Did you have any more left in the tires at the end? So, okay, I could be speaking about it for two hours…
Dimitri Boylan
Yeah, that’s a lot of it. Yeah, but I see now that the teammate is very important because someone’s driving the same vehicle.
Pierre Gasly
So, what I’m saying, all of that is compared to my teammate, because obviously that’s the first point of comparison. But then I’ll do it to any of the drivers that I’m interested in on the grid. So on that given day, we get some, a lot of data, obviously not to that same level of precision detail in some cases, but we still get access to a lot of GPS. So I’ll have a look at the car speed from any other cars on the grid. Hence, what I said earlier, with knowing, okay, that car is pretty fast through these sectors or these corners, looking pretty strong there, their top speeds are a bit better in that straight compared to that straight. So you really spend most of the weekend, I’ll just spend analyzing. All of that’s trying to find, you know, a way to improve my own performance. And trying to find ways to make me aware or get as much information as I can to help me in the way I race against any guys in the race.
Dimitri Boylan
Right? So this year, the amount of data is gonna be…
Pierre Gasly
It’s gonna be increased. Yeah, it’s increased. Some drivers like it, some others don’t. I’m one of the guys that I rather have too much than not enough information and not enough data. We get millions of data, so you’re gonna be quite wise in, you know, what you want. You won’t be able to cover everything. So you gotta go to the main priorities. I’m looking at onboards a lot, checking lines, different lines across cars. But sometimes it’s just, you know, your car requires a certain type of driving, a certain style, a certain line that other cars might be able to do differently, and it’s better for what they do. It doesn’t mean that it’s better for you. So you gotta take everything with a pinch of salt. But ultimately, you’re just trying to find ways to optimize and maximize what you’ve got.
Dimitri Boylan
Right? Because, yeah, your car is your car. Yeah, right. So yeah, maybe somebody is doing something differently and doing something better than you, but that’s not really in your scope of what your car can do something else.
Pierre Gasly
So that’s why your teammate is, let’s say, the first one, you know, you really like digging into to understand if there is anything that’s, yeah, you might pick on him. That’s why it’s important to have a strong lineup. Obviously, you’re pushing each other up. And it’s always better for the whole team to have like two strong drivers. But yeah, it’s a lot to process, probably a lot more work behind closed doors and what it may look like from the outside, where you just see us jumping in the car, putting in a lap, coming out, doing interviews, and that’s it. But it takes hours of working and trying to find all these small details that might make you go one hundredth faster, but then one hundredth is one hundredth.
Dimitri Boylan
Is enough to win a race. Exactly.
Pierre Gasly
One millisecond might be enough to qualify on pole. So you gotta take everything you can.
Dimitri Boylan
Yeah, I was amazed at how close everybody was on qualification race. Yeah, in Abu Dhabi. I was, I think it was like one second or something was, yeah.
Pierre Gasly
All 20 cars in Q1 was in nine tenths. So yeah, it’s been a long time since we had seen such a tight field, which is definitely gonna change this year, I can assure you that.
Dimitri Boylan
Yeah, I don’t think it’s gonna be as tight.
Pierre Gasly
Yeh, it’s gonna be bigger gaps.
Dimitri Boylan
Somebody’s gonna run out of energy at the wrong time somewhere. And it’s hard to predict where because, yeah, that energy management is also gonna change based on the actual track, right? Because you have some tracks with some hills, you have other tracks with no hills.
Pierre Gasly
Yeah, every track, every day, every conditions are different, and different requirements. So yeah, it’s gonna be a challenge. Obviously, this year, we’re changing engine manufacturer. We’re working with Mercedes, we’re getting a Mercedes engine. So, you know, we rely on, they’re extremely smart guys taking care of all of that. So at least as a driver, you know, we get given the tools, we know you gotta know what to do. But then, yeah, they do all that work beforehand.
Dimitri Boylan
So I understand that you’re also doing some things outside of racing. I understand you’re beginning to develop your business career, I should say. Right. Football.
Pierre Gasly
I mean, I’m a very curious person. So hyperactive in some ways, where I just need to, my life is all about Formula One. I grew up, you know, F1. I wake up thinking about Formula One. I go to sleep thinking about F1 because my ultimate goal is to be a world champion one day, right? But in life, we obviously need a balance, and I need to balance my life, not to be only focused on motorsport because whenever they hobbies, I have other passions, I have other industries I wanna learn about, and I have a lot of interests. And obviously, being a Formula One driver, I’m in a lucky position to receive a lot of opportunities. Great opportunities, thanks to the exposure the sports brought to me. And yeah, I must say I’m very excited about some of the projects that I’ve been starting in the last few years.
Dimitri Boylan
And there’s an entrepreneurial component now to what you’re thinking about, right? And that’s interesting because you’ve always been in a competitive environment. I guess you actually grew up in racing, and I think… Was your family in racing?
Pierre Gasly
Yeah, three of my four brothers raced in karting; they’re quite a bit older than me, from 10 years to 17 years older than I am. And they started way later. So it was only for a few years. But my dad used to race rally cars, entrance races. My granddad was a big motorsport fan. Didn’t raise himself, but he absolutely loved motorsport. And my grandma actually raced in karting. So, it’s interesting. It’s definitely part of the family and I’ve always had that competitive mindset from a very young age, no matter what I used to do since a child. And even now, like every day, I’m seeking competition, no matter what it is, it just drives me forward and it brings that sort of excitement I’m seeking in my life. And obviously, I take that to every sort of project I do. Obviously, F1 is on a different level, and I wanna be the best in the world, but I really wanna improve myself. When I do something, I either do it fully or I don’t do it at all. But there is no, you know, halfway with me.
Dimitri Boylan
You’re all in.
Pierre Gasly
It’s all in, fully committed.
Dimitri Boylan
Yeah, no, that’s the way you have to be. Well, it’s gonna be a really interesting season, I think it’s gonna be a great season for you. I mean, you’re really, you must feel like you’re in a good spot because you have the experience and. You know, you got a new car. The game is changing a lot. So, you know, we should. Great success. Hope to see you on the podium.
Pierre Gasly
Thank you very much, appreciate it.
Dimitri Boylan
Thanks so much for coming by.
Pierre Gasly
Yeah, no problem.
Dimitri Boylan
Appreciate it.
