Pierre Gasly 'not concerned at all' by past feud with future Alpine teammate Esteban Ocon

Pierre Gasly is not concerned at all by his past feud with his future Alpine teammate Esteban Ocon. The two Frenchmans are to pair up for the Enstone-based team for the 2023 F1 season.

Gasly and Ocon have shared a strained relationship with each other right from their karting days, where they fiercely competed against each other. Both being French, the two drivers have squared off throughout their junior careers. Alpine's decision to go with Pierre Gasly for the 2023 F1 season has led to widespread doubt within the F1 community regarding his previous feud with Esteban Ocon.

The former AlphaTauri driver, however, claims that he is not concerned at all by his rivalry with Ocon, claiming that the two have grown a lot since their junior careers.

In an exclusive with RacingNews365.com, Pierre Gasly said:

"[Esteban] is the guy I know in the paddock for the longest. We met at six years old, 20 years ago and have a long past history. It's no secret to anyone that we have had our ups and downs, but I think today we're much more grown up than we were."

"We have responsibilities driving for a manufacturer and we both know that it's in our benefits to work well together, working towards having a faster car. That's why I'm not concerned at all. I think it's also an opportunity to let bygones be bygones and be in a healthy place."

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Pierre Gasly is unhappy with F1's current penalty points system

Pierre Gasly claims that the increased length of the calendar will likely result in more penalty points for multiple drivers. The Frenchman accumulated 10 penalty points on his F1 superlicense in 2022 and would've received a one-race ban if he were to get two more penalty points (12).

Under current rules, drivers have to wait 12 months before each point on their superlicense expires. This means that Pierre Gasly will have to wait until May 2023 to see a reduction. The Frenchman claims that multiple drivers will get into trouble due to the sport's current penalty points system with the increased length of the F1 calendar. Pierre Gasly told the media:

"I really hope we can have a review of the old system over winter because I believe I'm not going to be the only one in trouble if we keep it that way. It will be a shame to see four or five racing drivers banned for a race."

To make matters worse for Gasly, Alpine will pay the price should the Frenchman be forced to miss a race due to penalties in 2023. F1 currently has no plans to change its penalty points system, but fans of the former AlphaTauri driver can keep their hopes up for a possible change in the near future.