Pierre Gasly competed twice at the Goodwood Climb Festival on Thursday, first in an Alpine A110 Future and then in an E20, the Enstone team’s 2012 single-seater.
Returning to Goodwood after several years away, Pierre Gasly was able to rediscover this Thursday morning the legendary hill climb race, where cars and bikes alternate throughout the weekend. For his first race, Norman was able to get behind the wheel of the Alpine A110 Future, a prototype of the all-electric future of the famous Berlinetta with two independent motors on the rear wheels.
And what better way to kick off the 2026 season than to drive along this stretch of tarmac with the stadium’s owner, the Duke of Richmond himself? A truly spectacular start for Gasly, as he explained to the fan zone microphone…
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“It’s been a long time since I’ve been to Goodwood, so to be able to come back and see everyone here, including all the cars, I feel like a kid in a candy store! It’s great to be here. I got to drive up the hill in the A110 Future, an electric sports car from…”Alpine. And having the Duke next to me was truly fantastic. In the afternoon I was almost back to the cars I was used to, from F1 to V8, which are inevitably a bit noisier!
Thus, Gasly was able to compete in hillclimb racing in a car known at the time as the Lotus E20, which was driven at one time by Kimi Raikkonen and Romain Grosjean. The sound of the V8 engine resonated naturally through the already packed stands.
As the theme of the 2026 Festival of Speed is rivalry, Pierre Gasly couldn’t help but talk about what will undoubtedly remain the most iconic rivalry in Formula 1 history, between Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost: “I loved the rivalry between Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost. I admired both drivers for different reasons. Alain is the best French driver in the history of Formula 1; he was a great example for all of us. As for Senna, aside from the driver and his talent, I admired what he represented for his entire community outside of Formula 1, the aura he had and his unique personality. The fights they gave us on the track were one of the most iconic in Formula 1.”
“Work to be done” for Alpine
The No. 10 driver also spoke about Alpine’s last Grand Prix, last weekend at Silverstone. Although Gasly and Franco Colapinto’s A526 were less comfortable than at the start of the season, they still managed to avoid incidents and both finished in the points on Sunday.
“Overall it was quite a difficult weekend and after a good start to the season where we were able to score points in the first few races and then a podium finish in Monaco, we lost a bit of momentum in the last two or three weekends. I struggled to finish in the top 10 as often as I wanted. There is still work to be done; things didn’t seem to be going well at Silverstone, but with everything going on we managed to get both cars into the points. Ultimately it was positive and I hope we will be more competitive at Spa.”