Pierre Gasly’s Miami Grand Prix week began with “by far the best experience of my life” as the Formula 1 driver had dinner with basketball legend Michael Jordan.
It is common for worlds to collide around a grand prix, as drivers mingle with celebrities or athletes from other disciplines.
Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton, for example, joined seven-time Super Bowl winner Tom Brady to play golf in Miami on Wednesday.
But rarely does a driver speak of such an experience in terms like AlphaTauri driver Gasly reflects on his three-hour dinner with Jordan, a six-time NBA championship winner.
Unforgettable dinner. @Jumpman23 👑 pic.twitter.com/sYu1eMzcNx
— PIERRE GASLY 🇫🇷 (@PierreGASLY) May 4, 2022
“It was the most inspiring dinner I’ve ever had,” Gasly said.
“Since a kid I’ve been inspired by this guy, his mentality and the success he has had in his career.
“Everyone says you should never meet your idols because you can only be disappointed and to me it’s been the complete opposite.
“The guy’s a genius, he’s in another league. First thing is his mentality, the way he’s thinking intellectually. I was very, very impressed.
“I didn’t know he’s a massive F1 fan. He almost knows the sport better than I do! It was very impressive and just great to discuss with such a legend.
“So, it was a great dinner. My personal sponsor is quite close to him and managed to organise it. A dinner I’ll remember all my life.”
No wonder AlphaTauri team-mate Yuki Tsunoda, who was donning a pair of Jordan sneakers in the Miami paddock on Thursday, admitted he was envious of Gasly.
Asked if he had a chance to meet Jordan too, Tsunoda said: “No, I would like to but Pierre didn’t invite me! So I didn’t meet with Michael.
“I’m kind of really jealous of Pierre that he met Michael Jordan. I think all of the drivers are jealous of him.
“It’s good that Pierre met him, I heard from Pierre how he was and how he got impressed by him.
“So, definitely, I’m jealous, but he already drove five years of Formula 1. He deserves It, to meet Michael Jordan.
“Me, not yet, I think. I still need to have better results!”
Gasly shared photos of the dinner on social media including Jordan wearing one of the 2020 Italian Grand Prix winner’s crash helmets – which Gasly gifted him.
In return, Gasly had a pair of his own Jordan sneakers signed by the man himself, which Gasly said is going “in my trophy cabinet”.
“It was more about exchanging with such a champion,” he says.
“You always learn so much about these guys and the way they approach sport, success, failures – anything – and how they got to that level and maintained this performance.
“I don’t think there was anyone else in the world I would have liked to meet more than him.
“So, it was definitely a very, very special dinner.”
The pair’s lengthy conversation included talking about the NASCAR team Jordan co-owns and Gasly said he was impressed to learn how interested in F1 Jordan really is.
“I didn’t know he wakes up every single Sunday morning to watch all our races,” said Gasly.
“He’s a huge fan. Everyone can imagine it’s not easy to be Michael Jordan and to show up to any events like that, even if you’d like to.
“So even though we don’t see him, he just follows everything.
“And I was quite amazed, how much detail he knows about our sports.
“It clearly shows he has a massive interest for motorsport.”
So, was this a one-time thing, or can Gasly count on one of world sport’s most successful and famous athletes for advice in the future?
For starters, Gasly appears to have an open invite for a repeat.
“We’re probably going to meet up some other time,” he said. “It was a great dinner, and I think we had a great connection. Obviously, he lives here. And we’re traveling all around the world.
“But he’s definitely a very special person. So we’ll see how the relationship grows from there.
“I got another invite when I’ll be back in the US. I’ll clearly take it.”
