Pierre Gasly is ignoring talk of a return to Red Bull after a strong drive to P5 at the Portuguese Grand Prix.
The Frenchman emerged from the opening laps unscathed before gradually making his way through the field before making his final move on Sergio Perez into Turn 1 late on.
Fifth place also represented Gasly’s best finish of the season, other than his victory at Monza of course, and it was the best reward he could give his AlphaTauri team after the engine failure and fire on Friday.
“We were very competitive, I must say I really enjoyed the race,” Gasly told Sky Sports.
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“It was very entertaining inside the cockpit; really happy we managed to pass the Renaults, the McLaren, the Racing Point of Sergio, especially after all the work the guys had on Friday night.
“They slept for one hour, so everybody was really tired after rebuilding a full new car. So really pleased to give them back this fifth place.”
More encouraging for Pierre was the performance of the new AlphaTauri car he received after the fire.
“When you change chassis you always think it can go either way,” he explained.
“It can either get worse or better. If anything that one seemed to work pretty well. It’s always good to confirm straight after a good result with a new chassis.”
Gasly’s P5 combined with a torrid P12 for Alex Albon has once again got some suggesting he should be promoted back to Red Bull for next season.
But amid rumours he could instead move to Renault, that possibility wasn’t high on his list of priorities.
“At the end of the day, Red Bull decide what they want to do with the drivers,” said Gasly, when asked on his prospects for 2021.
“On my side, the only thing I can do is to perform. Obviously, performance is not the only criteria to be in F1. That’s out of my control.
“The only I can do is put in strong results. Hopefully, I will get rewarded at some point.”