F1 News

Red Bull driver uncertainty bad for the stability of the team

Red Bull driver uncertainty "bad for the stability of the team"

19-09-2019 11:15

Former F1 driver Christijan Albers says that Red Bull's decision to replace Pierre Gasly with Alex Albon was the wrong one, despite Albon's encouraging start to his F1 career.

Gasly was demoted back to Toro Rosso during the summer break following 12 underwhelming races for Red Bull, with Thai youngster Albon promoted in his place.

Albon has finished fifth and sixth in his first two races for the senior team, putting in some brilliant overtaking moves at the same time in an impressive start to his Red Bull career. 

However, Albers, who raced for Minardi, Midland and Spyker, believes that Gasly would've performed better if he wasn't under threat of demotion. He told De Telegraaf newspaper: "I still don't understand that choice. I find that very bad for the stability of the team. On the one hand, I know that Helmut Marko can be tough and that points have to be scored.

"But what's going on in the head of the driver now. Anyone who goes into Red Bull knows first of all that he's going against Max Verstappen. And second, he knows that if he doesn't perform, he's out.

"I don't think that's a healthy situation. I am convinced that Gasly would have performed better if there was no possibility of him being replaced in the short term."