It is “already clear” that Pierre Gasly will leave the Red Bull stable if he doesn’t return to the senior team by 2024, Helmut Marko admits.
The Frenchman had a difficult stint alongside Max Verstappen in the first part of 2019, triggering a return to Toro Rosso/AlphaTauri where has shone since, scoring three podiums including his first Formula 1 win at Monza in 2020.
Gasly’s strong performance has led to repeated calls for him to get a second chance at Red Bull, but so far that opportunity has not yet come.
“At the moment we still have a contract with Checo [Sergio Perez for this year],” Marko told Germany’s Formel1.de.
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“We have to compare the performance of these two drivers, and with Checo, we still have until the middle of the year.
“With Gasly we still have a contract until [the end of] 2023, and it’s already clear that if this contract expires and we can’t offer him a chance to move up, we will most likely lose him, and we don’t want that.”
That point was emphasised by Gasly himself, speaking earlier this year.
“Helmut said it and it’s not confidential anymore that I have one more year after this year on my contract,” he said. “And that’s obviously [the moment that] either we make it with Red Bull or either we don’t.
“What’s going to happen after that, at the moment it’s way too early to speak about it. I’m focused on doing my best right now,” he admitted. “But obviously, I want to be in a fast car to fight for wins and victories and that’s the only thing that matters.
“I want to win in Formula 1 and I’ve got to have a car which allows me to win. We’ll discuss that with Helmut when it will be the right moment.”
Many have tipped Gasly as a potential future option to replace either Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes or Daniel Ricciardo at McLaren.
But the 26-year-old has far from given up on Red Bull.
“I just know what I’ve got to do is the same thing as previous years,” he said about how he can earn that second chance.
“I’ve just got to keep delivering the results [at AlphaTauri] and keep pushing the team forward and leading them in the right way.
“I’m feeling excited about the situation. It’s great. I just hope we have a fast car. That’s the only thing that matters to me at the moment.”