Toro Rosso team boss Franz Tost says he is "surprised" by Pierre Gasly's performance at Red Bull this season.

The Frenchman had a solid year with the junior team in 2018, scoring three top-six finishes, including an impressive fourth in Bahrain.

However, he is yet to repeat that result despite being at one of Formula 1's top three teams, and his past two races have seen midfield cars beat him on pure pace.

"I'm a bit surprised simply because Pierre is much better and therefore much faster than he's currently showing." the Austrian said to Germany's Motorsport-Total.

"The talent is out of the question he can do it all, but he just needs his time, you have to give him the time to adapt.

"He has the misfortune of being next to Max Verstappen, who is now established in the team, of course, but Max was also with us once and has also undergone his learning process."

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Gasly has cited his struggle to adapt to the Red Bull car as his main problem, and Tost agreed it may not suit his style.

"The RB15 is light on the rear and Gasly doesn't like that," he noted.

However, there have already been some rumours linking Daniil Kvyat back to his seat and the Toro Rosso chief didn't rule it out.

"We'll see how it crystalises in the future," the Austrian claimed.

"I would be happy if Daniil can get back to a top team like Red Bull because I think he has the pace. When the circumstances are right, he can put in a very good performance.

"Performance is the deciding factor in Formula 1. If a driver brings performance, why wouldn't you bring him back?"