Helmut Marko offered a blunt response to why Pierre Gasly was replaced by Alex Albon at Red Bull from the Belgian GP.
Despite reassurances that his seat was safe until the end of the year, the decision was taken and announced on Monday to drop the Frenchman, who has struggled since stepping up at the start of the season.
It came after the progress of Silverstone quickly fizzled out in Germany and Hungary, where Gasly again found himself losing out to midfield drivers.
“Gasly has problems in traffic, he loses places and he can’t overtake,” Marko stated to Auto Bild.
“So we had to react and give Albon a chance until the end of the season. Gasly takes his place at Toro Rosso and then we see who will be driving next year next to Max [Verstappen].”
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The decision to promote the Thai driver was perhaps more of a surprise than Pierre’s demotion, particularly given teammate Daniil Kvyat scored a podium at Hockenheim.
However, it continues what has been a rollercoaster year for Albon, who thought he’d be racing with Nissan in Formula E before joining Toro Rosso and now finds himself set to take on the best in the business from Spa-Francorchamps next month.