'I pretended to be a NASCAR driver' - Gasly on F1's US explosion
Formula 1’s meteoric rise in the United States has been felt by the drivers, with Alpine’s Pierre Gasly having noted a stark contrast over the last decade.
Speaking to The Race CEO Fabricio Drumond at 'Formula One's Premium Playbook', an event hosted by The Race and Axios ahead of the US Grand Prix, Gasly said that F1’s growth in the United States is “actually amazing”.
“I still remember coming to the States back in 2015 and people would ask me what I was doing," he said. "And I tried to explain to them I'm a reserve F1 driver. And after a couple minutes, I just ended up saying I'm a NASCAR driver for the night.
“I was just…going with that story, because people didn't yet have the knowledge about our sport. And now it's actually amazing.
“You go around town [in Austin], everybody's wearing Formula 1 merch. I think half a million people are going to show up across the weekend [at the US GP]. Most of the racetracks are absolutely packed.
“It's an amazing time to be part of our sport as a driver, as a team, as a brand. There is a real momentum at the moment.”
'I remember Adobe from when I was a kid'
Gasly recounted another personal anecdote about his mother, Pascale Gasly. Pierre spoke alongside Adobe’s Marissa Dacay, as the global VP of enterprise marketing detailed the software company’s first entry into F1 partnerships with the Alpine F1 team.
“I remember Adobe from when I was a kid; my mum used to do this sponsoring brochure, and on the computer we had she was spending nights and nights trying to look for sponsors.
"And I remember the Adobe branding on the desktop. It was probably one of the first sorts of softwares I remember my family using.
“So it's definitely very cool to have them on board with us. It's obviously a worldwide known and very premium brand. And I'm sure combining our forces, we're definitely going to make it a very successful collaboration.”
Adobe will roll out its software and begin customer engagement campaigns in partnership with the Alpine F1 team at the start of the 2027 F1 season, with generative AI and Adobe’s software suite part of the deal.
“I think there's many ways that we're going to be able to make the best out of this partnership," Gasly added.
"Nowadays, fan engagement is critical in Formula 1. In terms of exposure, we can see a lot more brands are committing to Formula 1 on a team level, but also on a driver level - a lot more opportunities, a lot more brands and trying to have a positive impact for our team, for our performance, but also bigger picture, for the fans."
