Following the conclusion of a dramatic 2024 season, which saw Alpine’s Pierre Gasly finish P10 in the driver’s standings, the Frenchman had tongues wagging — not just for his strong run of form, but for an unexpected winter break hairdo, sparking hair transplant rumours.
Posing alongside his model girlfriend “Kika” Cerqueira Gomes in a New Year’s photo on Instagram, the 29-year-old made waves with his new buzzcut, a far cry from his usual messy quiff.
According to Dr Gizem Seymenoglu, a hair loss specialist, the buzzcut might not have been a style choice but a necessary shave in preparation for a hair transplant.
“Based on his photos, I strongly suspect Pierre might’ve had a hair transplant and that, too, fairly recently. It’s possible he had one scheduled at the start of the winter break because you can already see his new hair coming in quite nicely.”
“He was probably a Norwood 3 before his potential surgery, and he may have been experiencing hair loss in the crown as well. However, there is no way of knowing for sure because there are hardly, if any, photos that clearly show the back of his scalp. Most of the time, he wore a hat or had a bedhead hairstyle that concealed everything, even his hairline.”
Dr Cagla, a hair transplant surgeon in Istanbul, also agreed that the French racer probably had a hair transplant, and according to her, he might’ve needed between 2,500 to 3,000 grafts for his surgery.
Back in 2017, when he made his debut with Toro Rosso, aged 21, the F1 driver had already started to show signs of androgenetic alopecia or pattern baldness, evidenced by an apparently receding hairline and thinning hair. Dr Gizem, however, believes the situation might have been exacerbated by the close-fitting helmets he had to wear for his job.
“Although it can happen, it is not common for someone in their early twenties to start showing signs of male pattern baldness. It is possible that the tight helmets he wore put pressure on his follicles, resulting in traction alopecia, causing further hair loss.”
In addition, the expert medical aesthetician noted that the five-time podium finisher might have tried non-surgical hair loss treatments before getting a possible hair transplant.
“Between 2021 and 2023, he seemed to still be experiencing recession, but his hair appeared more voluminous. This, to me, suggests the possibility of perhaps platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injections or even minoxidil therapy.”
Dr Gizem
Dr. Gizem is a facial aesthetics practitioner at Dr Giz Aesthetics, a Medical Aesthetics Clinic in London. She specialises in platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injections, as well as a wide range of non-surgical rejuvenation treatments for the skin, hair, and body. With experience treating over 500 patients, Dr. Gizem is fluent in both English and Turkish.
