Helmut Marko has revealed why he is hesitant to promote Pierre Gasly back to Red Bull despite his strong form at AlphaTauri.
It’s two years since the Frenchman returned to his current team after a difficult 12 races alongside Max Verstappen at Red Bull, which saw him rarely get close to matching the Dutchman.
Since then, Gasly has been one of Formula 1’s top midfield drivers, claiming three podiums including a shock first win last year at Monza.
However, those strong results see him no nearer to earning a second chance at the senior Red Bull outfit, not that AlphaTauri boss Franz Tost minds having him onboard.
“He is now one of the best drivers on the grid, that much is clear,” he was quoted as telling France’s Auto Hebdo.
“I’ve said before it’s good for a driver to stay with one team for a long time, that’s what the most successful drivers do.
“Not everyone can do that, but guys like Sebastian Vettel and Pierre can. Perhaps the best example of this is Michael Schumacher [at Ferrari].
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“I hope that he stays with us [for 2022],” Tost added.
“That’s important. Especially next year, with the new regulations. We need a benchmark, we need to know where to go from the set-up of the car.
“That’s not possible with two young drivers or two inexperienced drivers.”
Explaining why Gasly is stuck at AlphaTauri, Red Bull advisor Marko admitted the memories of 2019 meant there was still some doubts as to how much better he would be a second time around.
“He is driving at his best, but being number one in a very good B-team is a very different story to being number two to Max Verstappen at a top team,” he said.
“Mentally that makes a big difference.”
Gasly has also shown signs of wanting to look beyond the two Red Bull teams, ala Carlos Sainz in 2017, but that opportunity won’t come for a little while yet.
“We are looking at his progress,” Marko said, “in the next two years we will make a decision whether he’ll be on the free market or whether we’ll take him into Red Bull.”