Marko fears losing Gasly if Red Bull doesn’t make him an offer
« He’s good enough to get a second chance. » At the start of the 2022 Formula 1 season, Gerhard Berger looked into the Pierre Gasly case. The French driver, supported by Red Bull since his early years in single-seaters, had the opportunity to ride for the red bull brand in the premier category, in 2019, before being sent back to Toro Rosso after twelve Grands Prix for lack of performance. And according to Berger, who was once co-owner of the Red Bull B team, a comeback today would be well deserved.
The small results criticized for the French in 2019 gave way to solid performances within the team now called AlphaTauri. Since his demotion, Pierre Gasly scored 221 points, won the 2020 Italian Grand Prix, set a fastest race lap and took two more podiums. But, for now, Red Bull has not yet given him a second chance, preferring to trust Alexander Albon in 2020 and Sergio Pérez since 2021.
As a reminder, the Mexican’s contract expires at the end of the 2022 season. But if Max Verstappen’s current teammate continues to give satisfaction, Gasly could find himself in a bind when his contract ends in 2023 and turn to other teams. A risk that Red Bull is aware of, as Helmut Marko explained in an exclusive interview with Formel1.de, the sister publication of Motorsport.com.
« Gerhard is right but, at the moment, we still have a contract with Checo [Pérez] »said the special adviser of the brand with the red bull, referring to the words of Berger. « We have to compare the performances of these two drivers and with Checo we have until the middle of the year. With Gasly we have a contract until 2023 and it is already clear that if this contract expires and we can’t offer him a chance to ride [dans l’écurie Red Bull]we will probably lose it, and we don’t want it. »
The interested party has never hidden his desire to return to Milton Keynes and repeated it in February, during an interview with Motorsport.com : « Obviously I want to be in a fast car to fight for the win, and that’s the only thing that matters. I want to win in Formula 1 and I need to have a car that allows me to win. We’ll discuss that. with Helmut when the time comes. »
Interview by Christian Nimmervoll
