Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko believes Pierre Gasly’s approach after his promotion last year was a “complete failure”.
The Frenchman struggled from the start after replacing Daniel Ricciardo, crashing twice during pre-season testing and spending most of his races battling against the upper midfield teams.
Despite a better showing at Silverstone, finishing fourth, it only proved to be a one-off and he was sent back to Toro Rosso during the summer break.
“It seems to me that Pierre should take some of the blame,” he was quoted by GrandPrix247. “He came to Red Bull and saw only one goal in front of him – Verstappen, no one else.
“If he had accepted from the very beginning that Max is still faster and tried to gradually get close to him – but he tried to change his style, tried to reduce the gap in other ways, change something, try to attack harder and this led to complete failure.”
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Once back at the junior team and away from the pressure of Verstappen, Gasly instantly returned to the form he showed in 2018, notably claiming a remarkable second place after all the late drama in Brazil.
“His return (to Toro Rosso) was amazing,” Marko noted. “At such moments, you understand how important psychology is.
“If I would have said that I expected such a return from him (Gasly), I would be lying. But unlike [Daniil] Kvyat, who was completely broken, Gasly blossomed. Which was fortunate for himself and for us too.
“Pierre returned to Toro Rosso and instantly became the same Gasly that we invited (to Red Bull).
“I think he learned a lesson and made the right conclusions from those six months at Red Bull. I think he can achieve a lot in the future,” Marko concluded.
The Austrian also played down the notion that Gasly had actually been ‘demoted’ because he was still sat in one of 20 very coveted seats.
“We are talking about Formula 1,” he declared. “Do you know how many thousands of drivers dream of getting a place here?
“He still makes a lot of money and is still in the best championship in the world. I would say this is a chance, a new opportunity, but not a downgrade.”
As for Kvyat, who returned for his third stint at the junior Red Bull team last year, Marko admits he wasn’t that impressed.
“Yes, I think so, he still needs to add consistency, but he had a very strong last race in Abu Dhabi,” he said on the Russian’s hopes for a future promotion.
“The podium in Hockenheim was also great, but if we talk about lap times and how he worked with the tyres, then Abu Dhabi was his best race of the season.”
