‘This experience has shaped me’ – Gasly opens up on his work with Make-A-Wish

Following on from Formula 1’s first sport-wide Social Impact Report, where it was announced that more than 500,000 young people across 71 countries had benefitted from Formula 1’s charitable programmes in 2025, F1.com speaks to Alpine driver and Make-a-Wish France Ambassador Pierre Gasly about his work with the charity – with F1 having helped to make over 50 wishes come true last year for children living with critical illnesses.

One experience in particular from Gasly’s ambassadorship with the Make-A-Wish Foundation has stayed with him. The French driver was giving a tour of Alpine’s Enstone factory in the UK to a 17-year-old boy living with a critical illness.

“I took him around the factory in an Alpine A110 road car, and he could name every single car model that we crossed paths with on the road: the year, the engine, the horsepower. And I was, like, mind-blown – like, ‘I should be the car guy here and I'm clearly not!’ His knowledge about cars was insane, and he was so positive – a very bright personality… I felt pleased that I could make it happen.”

Within two months, Gasly’s guest at Alpine that day had passed away from his illness. If Gasly had been convinced of the Make-A-Wish Foundation’s worth when he became an ambassador for the charity back in 2023, it was that experience that made it hit home even more.

The Make-A-Wish Foundation’s roots run all the way back to 1979, when a seven-year-old child from Scottsdale, Arizona called Chris Greicius was diagnosed with leukaemia. With the help of his local community, Chris had his wish of being a police officer for a day granted, taking a police helicopter tour of Phoenix while wearing his own special uniform, and getting sworn in as Arizona’s first and only honorary Department of Public Safety member. And sadly, just like Gasly’s guest at Enstone, Chris would die a short time later from his cancer. The Make-a-Wish Foundation was born from Chris’ experience.

Like most young drivers coming into Formula 1, Gasly’s primary focus in his first seasons in the sport were beating his team mates and building his reputation with stand-out performances on track. But once established in the paddock, Gasly quickly realised that he wanted to start using his position to make a positive impact on the world.

“I remember having the conversation with my manager, and I told him that I'd like to find ways of giving back and actually being more involved with this sort of charity work – to just involve myself,” says Gasly. “Make-a-Wish felt like a good fit.

“I think it's a lot about trying to find ways to give back to people, thanks to the chance I have to be in the position that I am in Formula 1,” he adds. “Experiences I've had with Make-A-Wish and seeing the impact that I could have on these kids has been absolutely incredible.

“It's just very fulfilling as a human to feel that I can positively impact [these kids] – and it doesn't matter at the end of the day whether you impact one million people's lives or one, as long as I can do something positive and actually have a positive action and support someone, I find it very special.”

Gasly’s activities with the charity have ranged from auctioning off helmets to meeting kids at track, with Gasly clear that the positive impact of these meetings flows both ways.

“I would say this experience has shaped me,” he says of his ambassadorship. “I've had a fair few experiences that have made me stronger in the way that I approach and look at things.”

Asked by F1.com if he ever struggles to contain his emotions when meeting these kids and hearing their stories, often just moments before jumping into his racing car, he pauses before replying: “Not to say that I don't get affected because I'm someone who is quite emotional – and at the end of the day it's definitely tough to see the reality as it is.

“But I would say it just makes you reflect quite a lot on your life, on people's lives, and the chance that we have to live in the conditions that we live in.

“Some of these kids, already from a very young age, they know that unfortunately, they won't have the same chance and they won't have same amount of time as we get. So it definitely makes you reflect on a few things in life.

“I think it’s had a real impact on my life, on appreciating everything we have. Because it's so easy to complain about small stuff but… we should not allow ourselves to complain when we see the chance that we have to live our lives.”

While Gasly’s high profile as an F1 driver is helping to raise awareness of the Make-a-Wish Foundation, the Alpine driver is adamant that everyone and anyone can contribute to help make kids’ wishes come true…

“I always say there is no small or big donation,” says Gasly. “Any donation is used for these wishes and to realise the dreams for these kids who are obviously facing unique conditions. And that's why I always encourage people to donate.

“Sometimes you think two euros, five euros, 10 euros won't make a difference, but the reality is when you're talking a hundred, or a thousand people making a five-euro donation, it does change the life of hundreds of kids.

“People also wonder, ‘Where is my donation going to go? Does it actually impact anything?’ I think in the position that I am in as an ambassador, I can say that all these donations actually go to these kids and do change their lives and impact their lives very positively.

“And when you see the impact – and I’ve had the chance to see it live, right in front of me, how beneficial it is for these kids to actually get to live an incredible moment that they've dreamed of their entire life – you just realise it's worth everything.”