“I said F*** that”: Pierre Gasly talks about the time his coach made him choose between football and karting

Pierre Gasly is one of the most consistent finishers on the current F1 grid. Having made his debut in 2017 with Toro Rosso (now called VCARB), he has taken part in nearly 150 races, won once, and finished on the podium four times.

The Frenchman had a deep connection with racing from a young age. He took part in his first competitive karting race at the age of 10 in 2006. However, racing was seemingly never his first choice in sports.

As it appears from his social media, Pierre Gasly is a huge football fan. In fact, he started learning and playing football professionally when he was just five, long before he got into the world of motorsports. However, by the time he turned 9, his interest started moving towards karting, but he did not leave football behind.

Gasly came to a crossroads one day when his coach was furious at him for missing matches and practice sessions for karting. He then told him to play for the second team, and it was then that the Frenchman left football for good and centered his career around racing.

"When I started to do karting competitions at 9, then it started to become more complicated with football," Gasly told Motorsport. "When I was 10 or 11, I started to miss a few practices here and there. And because of the races, I couldn’t go to all of the games."

"I remember I came for a game on Sunday and the coach was not happy that I was focusing more on karting than on football. And he told me as a punishment he would put me in the second team. And I said: 'F*** that, I’m not playing for the second team.' And I just stopped on that day."

Although he pursued motorsports, Pierre Gasly's love for football never died. He invested in FC Versailles, a third-tier French club, by buying a minor stake in the team.

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Pierre Gasly draws comparison between football and racing

Having competed in both sports, Gasly knows the similarities and differences between Formula 1 and professional football. He mentioned that football is a very team-oriented sport, where if a player makes a mistake, their teammates try and pick up the slack. He feels that playing football at a young age has helped him in creating a bond with his teammates.

"But also team spirit and being supportive of each other," Gasly said, when asked about the similarities in football and racing. "In football sometimes you’ve got to make an extra effort to compensate for a teammate’s mistake. Or sometimes you do a mistake and then someone needs to have your back. And then, in the locker room, even if you are kids, you start building bonds between each other and you understand that your best games are actually the ones when there is a nice synergy between everyone."

Although Pierre Gasly left professional football a long time ago, the remains of the young footballer can still be seen. His racing number 10 is a tribute to former French footballer Zinedine Zidane. He is also spotted wearing football jerseys in the paddock often.