Why Pierre Gasly was once left absolutely furious with potential new Alpine teammate Valtteri Bottas

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Alpine are the latest Formula 1 team on the grid to consider changing their driver line-up this season.

Red Bull and Racing Bulls swapped drivers after just two races, although Yuki Tsunoda is under increasing pressure after taking Liam Lawson’s spot.

A few Grand Prix later, Alpine made a change that many people saw coming, with Franco Colapinto jumping into Jack Doohan’s seat at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.

David Coulthard praised Colapinto on his Alpine debut; however, the Argentine is yet to score a point during his five races with the team.

It appears as though de facto team principal Flavio Briatore is beginning to lose patience with Colapinto.

Alpine have been linked with Valtteri Bottas as a potential replacement for Colapinto as they look to confirm their line-up for 2026.

The Anglo-French team have sent youngster Paul Aron out on loan to Sauber to take part in two FP1 sessions, starting at the British Grand Prix.

With a return to the grid looking unlikely for Doohan, Bottas has suddenly emerged as the leading candidate to become Alpine’s fourth different driver in 2025.

READ MORE: Valtteri Bottas’ life outside F1 from girlfriend to wine and gin

Pierre Gasly was furious with Valtteri Bottas during Alpine’s greatest Formula 1 race

At the 2021 Hungarian Grand Prix, Gasly was racing for AlphaTauri, now Racing Bulls, while Bottas was Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes teammate.

The Finn got the first corner at the Hungaroring all wrong, taking out several of his competitors in the process.

Speaking to Formula 1’s official site after the race, Gasly said:  “I don’t know what to say except that Valtteri f—– up, took the first six cars pretty much out of the race, so… Luckily we didn’t get damage from it, compared to Max [Verstappen], Lando [Norris]. Checo [Perez] too.

“You know, the target was to qualify high in the midfield, to be in the best possible position for the race, that’s what we did and, in the end we can say we almost over-performed when we qualified ahead of the Ferrari and the McLaren, but, in the end, it would have been better to be in our natural position, slightly further back and benefit from this situation.

“But you never know when these things will happen, but it’s just a shame.

“From the first corner, we were dead last, and in such a track, it is extremely difficult to recover, so we had a really good day to still finish P6, we managed to get the fastest lap, but we should have been looking at the podium.

“It’s a bit disappointing, because we think there would have been more to do if we had been slightly luckier at the start.”

READ MORE: Alpine driver Pierre Gasly’s life outside F1 from net worth to girlfriend

Valtteri Bottas addresses where Alpine stand in his Formula 1 future

Gasly ended up finishing fifth at the Hungarian Grand Prix that year, benefiting from Sebastian Vettel’s post-race disqualification.

However, the race is better remembered for being Esteban Ocon and Alpine’s only Formula 1 victory, with the Frenchman’s teammate Fernando Alonso finishing fourth.

Bottas and Gasly have likely moved on from that particular incident and would be a very strong midfield partnership were the move to happen.

The Finn is looking for a way back into Formula 1 next season, and Bottas has spoken about the prospect of racing for Alpine in the past.

When he took part in that interview, he probably didn’t expect a seat to potentially become available as quickly as it could.

Colapinto is still, quite literally, in the driver’s seat, but will be well aware of how much pressure he’s about to come under.