Will Pierre Gasly once again break the deadlock at Red Bull? Two years left on his contract, then he could join other teams
Will Pierre Gasly’s path lead to Red Bull once again at some point? The Frenchman had the chance in 2019, but was sent back to Toro Rosso after only half a year. There, however, he has matured in the meantime and established himself as a leader for the team. Gasly himself dreams of a return to the senior team once more, but that hasn’t been an option for Red Bull so far.
They would like to keep him as the lead wolf at AlphaTauri, so at some point Gasly will have to decide whether to continue on Red Bull’s path or try his luck outside the Bull universe.
Gasly’s contract runs until the end of the 2023 season, “and then we will see if we will continue to do it with Red Bull or not. “
The Frenchman doesn’t want to talk about the future beyond that just yet. “I am focused on doing my best now,” he stresses. “But of course I want to be in a fast car that can fight for wins. That’s the only thing that matters. I want to win in Formula 1 and for that I need a car that allows me to do that. “
Gasly: No special pressure
Whether that will be possible with AlphaTauri may well be considered difficult. Although the team from Faenza has recently carried out some restructuring and, for example, upgraded its wind tunnel from a 50 to a standard 60 per cent model in 2021, sixth place in the World Championship has so far been AlphaTauri’s, or rather its predecessor’s, best placing.
If Gasly drives another strong 2022 season, his chances of another crack at Red Bull naturally increase, but he still doesn’t see himself under any particular pressure. “I just have to do the same as I’ve done in previous years,” he says. “I just have to deliver results and lead the team on the right path.”
Gasly is looking forward to this task, the rest “we will discuss with Helmut when it is time. “
Adaptation to new cars no problem?
But first Gasly has to see how he gets on with the new generation of cars. Due to the new regulations, the Formula 1 cars are completely new territory this year and might also require a different driving style. “You don’t just do that with a snap of your fingers, but as a driver you always have to adapt,” he says.
“Even in the race, sometimes you have more understeer and then oversteer,” he explains. “You do it naturally with your feeling. I wouldn’t say it takes a lot of time. It’s more about feeling and understanding what the car needs to be fast. “
Gasly also relies on his previous experience from other series. Before Formula 1, he raced in SuperFormula, the GP2 series, Formula E or Formula Renault 3.5. “And apart from Formula E, they were all really fast cars,” he says.
“And at the same time, I tested for Red Bull in 2015, 2016 and 2017. So I had the chance to get a feeling for a lot of different cars. And that’s always helped me to adapt to new series. “
