Daniel Ricciardo claims Pierre Gasly shouldn't have been surprised by Red Bull's decision to replace him during the summer break.

The Frenchman said on Thursday that there was some "shock" when he heard the news having had reassurances that he would stay alongside Max Verstappen for the rest of 2019.

However, Ricciardo, who's departure to Renault resulted in Gasly's promotion for this season, believes he was given ample time to prove himself.

“To be honest I don’t think it’s unfair, I think they [Red Bull] had to do something," the Australian told RaceFans.

“Nothing against Pierre: I have no issue, I like Pierre as a person. I’m not happy to see him go back to Toro Rosso but I think the reality is Red Bull did give him six months.

“I don’t think there was that much sign of progression or momentum and obviously with Max [Verstappen] winning and showing that the car is capable of at least being on the podium I think Red Bull did expect to see that, for now."

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During his 12-race stint alongside Verstappen, Gasly only finished ahead once, after the Dutchman was punted off track by Sebastian Vettel at Silverstone.

The 23-year-old was also becoming an increasing liability in Red Bull's hopes of beating Ferrari in the Constructors' standings, however, Ricciardo doesn't think Gasly was all that far off where the team expected him to be.

“I don’t think they expected Pierre to beat him but sometimes the gap was too big,” he said. “I think if he was a tenth, two-tenths or maybe even three sometimes it would be a bit better.

“I don’t know, I’m just speculating, I don’t know what Red Bull was expecting of him but they probably weren’t expecting him to beat Verstappen but probably be closer and to get more points on the board, I guess that was expected.

“[Verstappen’s] had two wins, he’s had a few podiums, I guess at least they would have expected maybe one podium from Pierre,” Ricciardo added. “[It’s] not my place but all I will say is it’s not the first time they’ve done this so it’s not really a shock.”

There was some sympathy for Gasly in the paddock though, from Ferrari's Charles Leclerc

"I feel for Pierre," he said. "He’s a very good friend of mine, I’m pretty sad for him but I think it’s also an opportunity for him to have a second chance and I hope he will take the full use of it."