Driver market update! Red Bull open to Alpine’s offer to take Pierre Gasly

Alpine are seeking a driver to pair with Esteban Ocon in the F1 2023 driver line-up after Fernando Alonso announced he would move to Aston Martin.

Oscar Piastri denied Alpine’s claim that he would replace Alonso and plans to move to McLaren, replacing Daniel Ricciardo, although this messy contractual dispute is currently being decided by the FIA's Contract Recognition Board (CRB).

Alpine’s first-choice driver for next season has emerged as Gasly - they would need to buy him out of next year’s contract with AlphaTauri with their sister team Red Bull.

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner said to Sky: "The market is fairly fluid at the moment.

"We'll see what is the outcome with the CRB with Piastri, Alpine and McLaren and then we'll go from there.

"Pierre is still a Red Bull Racing contracted driver until the end of next season. But of course we've got a contract with Checo Perez for the next couple of years. Max Verstappen is on a long term contract.

"We have to consider all possibilities. Of course until they fix what is going on with the contract recognition side, everything else is just purely speculative."

French team Alpine would have two French drivers if they signed Gasly to pair him with Ocon.

But Gasly and Ocon infamously do not see eye-to-eye…

Ricciardo and Mick Schumacher, currently with Haas, are other big-name drivers without a confirmed seat for next season.