"My feet faster than your car" - Pierre Gasly receives memorable message from NFL's Miami Dolphins star Tyreek Hill
Pierre Gasly was given a warm welcome by Miami Dolphins star Tyreek Hill at the team's training complex on Thursday (January 26). The Alpine driver was given a behind-the-scenes tour of the facility during the Formula 1 off-season.
The Frenchman was at the Dolphins' Baptist Health training complex, where the NFL franchise trains, next to the Miami Grand Prix circuit and the Hard Rock Stadium, to mark 100 days until the second iteration of the F1 race in Miami.
Like Gasly, Hill is also known for his speed — only, he races on his feet and not in a carefully engineered car. Before being selected for the NFL draft, players who graduated from college generally run the 40-yard sprint at the NFL Combine. During his sprint in 2016, Hill conquered the 40 yards in 4.29 seconds — the fastest that year.
The 28-year-old Georgia native took the opportunity at the Dolphins' training ground to challenge Gasly in a 100-yard sprint and, unsurprisingly, the NFL athlete comfortably beat the F1 driver.
After the sprint, Hill presented Gasly with a signed No. 10 Dolphins jersey with a message that read:
"My feet...faster than your car!"
days until the #MiamiGP? 
Did someone say 💯 days until the #MiamiGP? 👀
We had @cheetah and @PierreGASLY go head-to-head in a 100 yard dash ahead of @f1miami! 🏎 https://t.co/nvspWmne18
Speaking about his defeat to Hill, Pierre Gasly said (via bignewsnetwork):
"Although I don't like to lose, I liked meeting Tyreek as I have so much respect for him and all the other guys as I know what it takes to be a top athlete."
The second edition of the Miami Grand Prix is scheduled to take place at the Miami International Autodrome on May 5-7.
Alpine hope Pierre Gasly can help the team get closer to the big boys of F1
Pierre Gasly's Formula 1 career began with Toro Rosso in 2017. He later got promoted to Red Bull Racing in 2019, which was quickly followed by a move back to Toro Rosso mid-season.
The Frenchman continued to race for the team during their rebranding as AlphaTauri. He made his mark and honed his skills for three seasons before announcing a move to Alpine at the end of the 2022 campaign.
Alpine, owned and operated by French automotive giant Renault, opted to pair Gasly with his compatriot Esteban Ocon in a move they hope will change the team's fortunes. The team's CEO Laurent Rossi hopes Gasly can become the 'technical leader' of the team and help them bridge the gap with the frontrunners of the F1 grid.
He said (via the official F1 website):
“Hopefully he [Pierre Gasly] is going to bring what we need, which is to continue developing the car, because at the moment, we are still pretty much in the midfield and we need to take the car a notch up.”
He added:
“So that's what Pierre, we hope, is going to bring. I mean, he was the technical leader in many ways, I guess, at AlphaTauri. We want him to continue doing that, grow the team, grow himself with us and take us to a new level.”
Bold claim by Pierre Gasly 👀
#F1 #AlpineF1 #PierreGasly #EstebanOcon https://t.co/X624dYehMM