Alpine F1 driver Pierre Gasly becomes co-owner of French football club
Pierre Gasly has become a co-owner of French football club FC Versailles.
Alpine F1 driver Pierre Gasly has become a co-owner of French football club FC Versailles.
The 2020 Italian Grand Prix winner is one of three shareholders of FC Versailles - which is a semi-professional football club currently playing in the French third tier, Championnat National.
Gasly joins alongside Alexandre Mulliez, who is club president, and his partner Fabien Lazare.
Speaking of the news Gasly said: "I am delighted to get involved with FC Versailles because I have always wanted to get involved in professional football.
"With Alexandre and Fabien, we share values, ambition and a keen competitive spirit which will allow us to positively develop the club. This is the start of a very beautiful story. Go Versailles!"
Mulliez added: "Pierre brings a strong complement to Fabien and myself," he said. "I am convinced that our collaboration will be fruitful. As a long-time fan of F1, I am lucky to have Pierre by our side to achieve all our goals."
The Versailles-based outfit are best known for having Thierry Henry as part of their youth set up in the 1990s.
Henry is widely regarded as the English Premier League’s greatest-ever player.
A tough start for Alpine on track
For Gasly and Alpine, it’s been a miserable start to the 2024 F1 season on track.
Gasly and Esteban Ocon have been knocked out in Q1 in both races, and are quite clearly the 10th fastest team at the moment.
Unsurprisingly, Alpine have been forced into significant management changes behind the scenes in terms of their technical staff following a number of resignations.
Speaking ahead of this weekend's Australian Grand Prix, Gasly said: "I'm definitely feeling ready for the next opportunity in Melbourne this weekend. It has not been the start to the season that we wanted, but, in reality, it was one we expected to be challenging and that has proven to be the case. I was in Enstone for a couple of days last week.
"It was good to spend time with many different people and to discuss a few things on how we can improve. I also took some time at the whole team debrief to say a few words on my feeling inside of the car. I see so much hunger and motivation in everyone at the team to improve our situation.
"We'll keep chipping away and we have Australia this weekend to keep understanding more about what we have in our hands."
