Gasly not fearful going against Verstappen

Pierre Gasly has insisted he is "not afraid" of going up against his new Red Bull Racing team-mate next season in Max Verstappen.

Gasly impressed for Red Bull's junior team, Toro Rosso in 2018, earning him the call-up as the man to replace the outgoing Daniel Ricciardo.

Verstappen is heavily tipped to become world champion one day, and he has shown all the signs of that in the second half of 2018.

It will be undoubtely Gasly's best team-mate in F1, but the 22-year-old Frenchman has insisted he is "not afraid" of going up against the Dutchman.

"I'm not afraid, it's up to me to make a place for myself in the team," Gasly said to France's Infosport+. "Max is obviously a strong personality, he's well established in the team and has more experience than me.

"He's got more experience with the team. He is who he is, and it will be up to me to make my my place. I'm not like Daniel (Ricciardo), I'm somebody different. I'm not like Max. I've got my own personality."

Gasly impressed with Toro Rosso last season, who were already powered by Red Bull's new engine supplier, Honda.

Red Bull have finally made a switch from Renault, after massive reliability issues - in a season where Ricciardo had eight DNFs.