Gasly, of course, was a part of Red Bull before he was replaced by Alex Albon and demoted to Red Bull’s second team.
Follow Us
Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko recently spoke about the 2021 driver lineup for Red Bull’s secondary Formula 1 team, AlphaTauri. He especially spoke of Japanese driver Yuki Tsunoda and expressed his unhappiness with him this season. Tsunoda did show great promise during his time in Formula 2 where he showed some great flashes of speed. However, his season in 2021 has been far from impressive. However, the public’s perception of him is often of a hot-headed driver who often makes a lot of mistakes. It is true if one looks at Tsunoda’s season this year, the success has just not been there. On numerous occasions, he has failed to finish a race in his F1 career so far.
“Hmmm, the head is not only there to put on the helmet, but also to think,” Marko told Red Bull-owned publication Speedweek. Although it seems unlikely that Tsunoda will keep his place at AlphaTauri next year, Marko has said that the Japanese driver will have his chance to impress in the second half of the current season. AlphaTauri are yet to announce their driver lineup for the 2022 season.
“He’s young, with a lot of Japanese mentality, but he makes mistakes when they are not necessary at all, like in a first training session. But it will be fine. He still has time,” Marko said.
The Red Bull advisor was, however, full of praise for the other AlphaTauri driver Pierre Gasly. Gasly, of course, was a part of Red Bull before he was replaced by Alex Albon and demoted to Red Bull’s second team.
He has been performing quite well this season and there are rumours doing the rounds that he could be brought back to Red Bull as a replacement for Sergio Perez to partner Dutch title challenger Max Verstappen.
Speaking to Speedweek, Marko said that it was the intention of Red Bull to announce who will be Verstappen’s partner for the 2022 season. It is becoming less likely for former Force India driver Sergio Perez to retain his spot. If Gasly’s recent performances are anything to go by, he looks set for a comeback to Red Bull.
“To clarify, we have an optional contract on Gasly’s services until 2023, which we will also use. All other rumours are nonsense,” Marko said while speaking about Gasly. “He is definitely driving his strongest season. And he is extremely important as team leader for AlphaTauri, the team has become a top team in midfield,” he added.
