Pierre Gasly says he isn’t concerned about his future at Red Bull despite his difficult start to the season.
The 23-year-old has contributed just 37 of the team’s point so far this year compared to Max Verstappen’s 100.Team principal Christian Horner said it was “frustrating” to see Gasly finish out of the points on the road in France, before he was promoted to tenth place by Daniel Ricciardo’s penalty. The team’s motorsport consultant Helmut Marko recently said they would be prepared to consider recalling Daniil Kvyat from Toro Rosso to the top team if needed.
However Gasly he wasn’t worried about losing his place at the team, as Kvyat did mid-season at Red Bull three years ago.
“No not really,” he said when asked by RaceFans at the Red Bull Ring today. “I think at the moment it’s clear no one is happy and I’m the first one not happy with the performance because I’m a racing driver.
“I feel we are far from showing the potential we have and that’s not pleasant and no one is happy about it. At the moment it’s just trying to focus on putting everything together. Same on my side: I think there are things we can do better as well. We can all do better but we’re clearly not showing the potential so I think that’s the main thing to focus on at the moment.”
Gasly said he is still adapting his driving style and his car to suit each other. “I had to change quite a bit compared to my approach and what I would like to do. But then at the same time the team is trying to find ways to come back towards my natural driving style.
“So I think it’s a bit both but for sure I had to change. I still have things I can do better to suit that car a bit more and that’s what I try to focus on.”
“At the moment the car is a bit inconsistent,” he explained. “Some sessions we are fast, some we are not. It’s juts a matter of finding a consistent base, that’s the main thing.
“Sometimes we manage to be fast, just not as consistent as the other car, for different reasons. I think it’s really important for us to find what works and go every weekend building from the base that at the moment I think we are struggling to find.”
Gasly said he is hopeful he will emerge from his rough patch a stronger driver.
“At the end you always learn from this kind of difficult situation whether it’s about yourself, about so many things like just facing challenges. I think in the end when you come out of it, it always makes you stronger. That’s the way I look at it. For sure things are not going exactly how I want but I’m pretty confident it’s going to make me a more complete driver once we go through that phase.”
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and
2019 F1 season
- Crying in the Melbourne car park at 2019 grand prix was my career low – Ocon
- McLaren Racing reports reduced £71 million loss in 2019
- Kvyat: Hockenheim podium last year was “my biggest achievement” so far
- How the FIA’s new encrypted fuel flow meter targets Ferrari’s suspected ‘aliasing’ trick
- “He smashed my office door”: 23 must-see moments from ‘Drive to Survive’ season two
Ipsom
27th June 2019, 13:03
Has any driver ever said that they were worried about their future?
Lee H (@stopitrawr)
27th June 2019, 13:31
Gasly will emerge from this a better Formula E driver, that’s for sure.
Gulp
27th June 2019, 13:48
Like Massa and Vandorne?
DAllein (@)
27th June 2019, 15:36
You are probably too polite and wanted to say “emerge from this a Formula E driver”… without “better” ;)
Urvaksh (@thedoctor03)
28th June 2019, 6:58
LOL
hahostolze (@hahostolze)
27th June 2019, 13:58
Could it just be that, looking at the pace difference Verstappen – Ricciardo, and now Ricciardo – Hulk, and Verstappen – Gasly, that, all adaptation issues aside, he’s just not close to Verstappen? He’s just not good enough to compete with Verstappen, period?
Robbie (@robbie)
27th June 2019, 14:05
Frankly, I think few are.
DAllein (@)
27th June 2019, 15:40
I would say half the field is quite a match to Max.
DAllein (@)
27th June 2019, 15:43
Ok, maybe one third.
Mercedes and Ferrari pairs, Ricciardo, Ocon, Perez, and maybe Albon.
GtisBetter (@)
27th June 2019, 16:06
you can scratch Bottas, Ocon, Perez and albon of that list.
Jeffrey (@jeffreyj)
27th June 2019, 22:56
Hamilton, Ricciardo, Vettel, Norris and Leclerc I’m quite sure are in the same ball park as Verstappen, if not better than him. I do rate Russell as well, but he is in no position to prove it right now.
Bottas, Hulkenberg, Kvyat, Perez, Sainz, Ocon, Albon and Magnussen would all be fine next to Max as well, but talent-wise slightly more clear #2 drivers.
Prarag Chopra
27th June 2019, 23:50
@dallein Kvyat beat Ricciardo over a season. Ricciardo is not in the league of Hamilton, Vettel and Verstappen
BasCB (@bascb)
27th June 2019, 14:24
As @robbie correctly mentions @hahostolze, it is quite likely that Gasly is not good enough, much like not many drivers can compete with Hamilton and drivers of that calibre.
Edvaldo
27th June 2019, 16:05
i’m under impression the car and engine aren’t particularly good and he is having trouble to adapt to it. Him getting stuck behind Stroll in Canada completely wrecking his race while Ricciardo passed easily was very telling.
But his only reference ever in F1 was Hartley anyway, and he was very poor and unlucky last year and yet was faster than Gasly at some points, so… maybe he was never that good to start with anyway.
anon
27th June 2019, 22:32
Edvaldo, personally, I am inclined to agree that, given how Gasly performed in junior series, I have to question whether he is that great a driver to begin with.
As you note, the only benchmark we had for him at Toro Rosso was Hartley, a driver who had a fairly poor record in single seater cars and who had not driven a single seater car for several years, only to be thrust into an F1 car at fairly short notice. You sense that Hartley was being used as a stop gap because Red Bull needed somebody with a superlicence, and he just happened to fit the bill for them.
I do also feel that one 4th place in Bahrain was one of those events that made people hype him up quite a bit, but take that out of the equation, and most of the results of the rest of the season were kind of in line with what you’d expect from a Toro Rosso driver. I do wonder if perhaps that one strong result, combined with the expectation that Toro Rosso would be bad in 2018, contributed to that one result being overvalued and therefore giving Gasly a disproportionate amount of credit.
When you look at Gasly’s performance in junior series, it does feel a little as if he was reasonably consistent, but not especially fast. In the Formula Renault 2.0 series, in his first season he wasn’t even the most successful driver in his team – de Vries beat him fairly comfortably – and not even the best Red Bull rookie, with Kvyat also comprehensively outscoring Gasly that season. In the Formula Renault 3.5 series, he placed second in the championship that season, but failed to win a single race that season – in GP2, Gasly only just held off Giovinazzi from winning, even though Giovinazzi was a rookie and Gasly had a season and a half in GP2 under his belt already by then.
If you look at his win ratio in junior series, it’s notably lower than the likes of some of his contemporaries, such as Kvyat in earlier series or Leclerc and Giovinazzi in more senior series. Maybe it is just me, but his junior career seemed to never really stand out that much and I kind of wondered what all the hype about him was.
Zafka (@jjlehto)
27th June 2019, 14:33
I think Gasly is committing an act of hubris with this comment. To be honest I’d rather see Kvyat in thst car. There’s no doubt Dani is also no match for Max, but as someone said above – few are.
Dutchguy (@justarandomdutchguy)
27th June 2019, 22:15
I want to see Pato O’ward end up in that car somehow
Christopher Kyriazis (@ckyriazis2006)
27th June 2019, 23:12
Unfortunately we won’t see him till 2021 at the earliest. He has no Super License Points despite what Red Bull say. Not enough competitors in the series he had competed in the last 3 years.
Phylyp (@phylyp)
28th June 2019, 0:27
@jjlehto – hubris? Gasly? Naaah ;)
GeorgeTuk (@georgetuk)
27th June 2019, 14:46
I would be.
DAllein (@)
27th June 2019, 15:38
I am amazed both he and Kvyat are still there.
Though, admittedly, Kvyat performs a little better, than I expected, so yeah – kick Gasly out, reshuffle Kvyat and whoever holds RBR’s reserve role.
Gabriel (@rethla)
27th June 2019, 16:02
Getting crushed for half a season and hes the first one thats not happy about it because hes a racing driver? Ok sure, thats a good reason for not getting kicked out…….
Adam (@rocketpanda)
27th June 2019, 16:04
He’s not worried? He probably should be.
MB (@muralibhats)
27th June 2019, 20:09
looks like bragging will not make the car go any faster than what you are capable of! All the pre season and 2018 talk seems so embarrassing for him. He is probably not worried maybe because they don’t have another kvyat to replace him
Phylyp (@phylyp)
28th June 2019, 0:29
@muralibhats – I don’t know man, but I’ve heard it said these new-fangled turbochargers work on a lot of hot air. ;)