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Gasly warned by team boss: 'I don't think he'll get a seat there'

Gasly warned by team boss: 'I don't think he'll get a seat there'

24-04-2022 08:15 Last update: 10:24
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GPblog.com

Pierre Gasly is not hiding his ambitions. In 2023 he wants to drive for a top team in Formula 1 and that basically means there are three options for him: Mercedes, Ferrari or Red Bull Racing. Gasly has hinted several times at leaving AlphaTauri if he doesn't get Sergio Perez 's seat at Red Bull, but his team boss Franz Tost warns him to be "careful.

Perez's contract expires after this season. In the summer vacations Christian Horner and Helmut Marko will evaluate and decide whether it will be Perez or Gasly who can take his place next to Max Verstappen in 2023. There is undoubtedly enough to say for both options, but much will depend on the course of the first half of the season.

Gasly, however, considers himself ready for a return to the big Red Bull in any case. The young Frenchman says he is ready for the next step, but he does not seem to have many options, as many teams have already pretty much finalized the line-up for 2023. Tost therefore argues that Gasly should think carefully about leaving AlphaTauri should he not make it at Red Bull.

Where is there room for Gasly?

Indeed, the Austrian top man rightly notes that with Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, Ferrari is already ready for next season. About his chances at Mercedes, Tost says at Formel1.de"I don't think he will get a place there." That chance would also only come if Lewis Hamilton decides to hang up his helmet on the willows early, as the seven-time world champion, like George Russell, simply has a contract for next year.

Tost explains that the other teams currently bivouacking in the middle of Formula 1 only have a minimal lead over AlphaTauri. He argues that Gasly must then have a very firm belief that he could one day win the world championship with one of those racing teams. In that respect, it might be better to wait one more season at AlphaTauri, until the 2024 season.

At least at AlphaTauri, Gasly is more than sure of his seat."Technically, he led the team in 2021 because Yuki was a rookie. He did that very well. His knowledge of tires has also reached a very high level by now. If Pierre has a good car, he is always in a position to compete at the front." According to Tost, a move by Gasly to Red Bull would be a "very logical train of thought." "Pierre has won races, Pierre is experienced and he is a protégé of Red Bull."

Gasly keeps options open

The conversation in which Gasly definitively informs team boss Tost that he will leave the Red Bull family if no promotion follows to Red Bull has 'not yet taken place', Tost finally reveals. So all the cards are still on the table.