Red Bull’s protective shield around Pierre Gasly slipped after another very disappointing performance at the French Grand Prix.
Rather than be motivated by a home crowd, the 23-year-old instead found himself falling back down the field for the second straight race at Paul Ricard.
The most notable moment was when his predecessor Daniel Ricciardo powered past into the Mistral chicane, this after the hard job of starting on softs had gone better than expected.
“He did a good job in the first stint on the red tyre and then we got him track position,” team boss Christian Horner analysed on Sky Sports.
“[It was] a fantastic stop by the boys, the fastest of the afternoon, I had it at 1.9s stationary.
“So we got him track position to Daniel and then he just didn’t get going on that harder tyre, he then lost out to the other guys as well.
“It’s frustrating not to have that car in the points. I’m sure we’ll have a good look at that with him.”
A slight saving grace was the post-race penalty for Ricciardo which promoted Gasly back into the points in P10.
But the main frustration for Red Bull is how far behind he is compared to teammate Max Verstappen.
“We managed to split [the Ferraris] which was the maximum Max could do today,” Horner added as the Dutchman claimed fourth.
“He drove the wheels off the car, another very mature drive.
“We’re just missing that sort of two or three tenths at the moment, but hopefully it’s in the pipeline.”
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Giving his side of the story, Gasly insisted the performance was not there from his car.
“It was a long, difficult day and I’m disappointed, especially being here in France,” he said.
“From qualifying, I have struggled for grip and it was the same in the race. At the moment I don’t have the answer but I’m sure we will analyse everything to understand exactly why we lacked pace.
“I tried to do everything I could inside the cockpit but I could not push the car as I was sliding a lot.
“I have never really felt the car like this and with Austria next, we will have to quickly work hard with the guys to come back and put everything together for the next race.”