"Helmut Marko promised me things" and "some promises have not been kept"

Pierre Gasly has said that some of the promises Helmut Marko made him were not kept during the 2019 Formula 1 season. Gasly had been promoted to Red Bull Racing but was demoted to Toro Rosso halfway through the season. 

"Helmut promised me things, especially about changes to the car," Gasly told L'Equipe. "He told me that I was going to stay until Abu Dhabi.

"Some promises have not been kept. I was disappointed with all that," he admitted. "When I received the call that told me this news, I was upset because I found this decision unfair.

"I was also frustrated with those six months with Red Bull. Partly because I was only at 80 percent of my potential, but also because I had not been given the means to do better.

"But in F1 I know that it's not just performance that counts," Gasly continued. "F1 is a ruthless world, where there is sometimes a lot of money and politics involved.

"It would be naïve not to take into consideration everything involved in such decisions," he said. "There are some things that must stay between the team and me.

"I prefer to focus on myself. There are some things I could have done differently too, I'm aware of that," he acknowledged. "But I'm only 23 years old."

In his return to the junior team, Gasly really impressed and even finished the Brazilian Grand Prix in 2nd place. He will look to keep improving and prove to Marko that he made the wrong decision.