Pierre Gasly has come a long way since his Red Bull days. The Frenchman has matured and displayed some incredible performances with AlphaTauri giving a sign that he’s ready this time.
Gasly’s 2019 Red Bull season was certainly not what he or the team had hoped for. Soon, he was dropped from the team and sent back to Toro Rosso (now AlphaTauri), where he has since waited for a promotion again.
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The 26-year-old was brought in to complement Max Verstappen. Even back then, the Dutch prodigy showed signs of being a future world champion. Understandably, the Austrian team wanted Gasly to be similarly competitive and fill in Daniel Ricciardo’s shoes. However, unlike Verstappen, Gasly was new to the team and arguably had to catch up to a lot in much less time.
Pierre Gasly felt more time with Red Bull could’ve helped
Gasly recently opened up and reflected on how things could’ve been different if he had got more time with the main team. He said, “When I was there, for various reasons, all of us as a team didn’t manage to create that sort of connection, unfortunately. With more time, things could have been different.”
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The Frenchman, however, has been great with AlphaTauri. So could he have pointed to a mistake Red Bull made? The Frenchman has indirectly pointed to a weak connection between him and the team.
Gasly has been in contention for the Red Bull seat with Sergio Perez. The Mexican has been monumental in Verstappen‘s win last season and has been consistent with points and podiums. As things stand, it’s highly unlikely that the Austrian team would want to change their driver line-up for next season. This might even force the French to completely cut off ties with Red Bull and look elsewhere.
Gasly believes planning in F1 never helps
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F1 is an unpredictable game field, and Gasly is hopeful. His growth and broadened skill set might just earn him something better. Speaking about the ever-changing F1, Gasly revealed, “The skills, I believe it’s something either you have it or you don’t, but then with more experience, you’re always fine-tuning your abilities to adjust. F1 never goes the way you plan it. “
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“There are so many different parameters that can change all the time. So you’ve got to adapt yourself every time to the conditions, to the car behavior. And I feel I’ve improved a lot with [the team] to maximize a car that is not maybe suited exactly the way I want.”
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His recent defense against the formidable Lewis Hamilton proved his mettle as a driver. Arguably, the track assisted him, but Gasly made no mistakes and was sharp as a tack. Despite a pointless finish, holding back a 7-time world champion, was one of the biggest highlights of the Imola race for Pierre.