It’s not uncommon for a Formula 1 driver’s future to be completely out of their hands. It’s generally the case for drivers who aren’t Lewis Hamilton or Max Verstappen.
Yet, many do get backed by teams before they reach F1, which brings the expectation they will progress through the rankings to become a senior member of the outfit, if an opportunity arises.
For a driver like Pierre Gasly, that step up came arguably too soon at Red Bull in 2019. He now seems stuck at a crossroads after the team announced Sergio Perez had re-signed to remain alongside Verstappen at the senior team until the end of 2024.
Red Bull’s decision is a rational one. Perez is a driver who has consistently delivered at races to gain important points in their championship fight and has accepted the occasions where he’s had to serve as ‘number two’ to Verstappen with grace.
But the decision to sign Perez does raise obvious questions for Red Bull’s long-running junior programme and the driver who seemingly occupies the leading place within its structure, Gasly.
Last season Franz Tost, team principal of Red Bull’s junior F1 squad AlphaTauri, praised Gasly for his impressive performances and added he would be ready to return to Red Bull in the future if given the chance.
Gasly had a bumpy ride to the top. He was called up to Red Bull from the junior team (then called Toro Rosso) ahead of the 2019 season after just one full year in F1. But his time at the top team was over before it got started. Demoted mid-season, he was replaced by Alexander Albon, another of Red Bull’s many junior drivers.
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Gasly isn’t the only driver to be cast aside by Red Bull as the team struggled to field two competitive drivers over a season. Six years ago Daniil Kvyat was abruptly demoted to bring the young Verstappen into the team.
Granted, that gamble paid off, as the number ‘1’ on Verstappen’s RB18 shows. But the merry-go-round it set in motion led to Daniel Ricciardo walking out of the team, Gasly and Albon in turn temporarily installed as his replacements, and the latter dropped to make way for Perez who, significantly, was not part of Red Bull’s junior driver programme.
That has left a talent like Gasly on the table with seemingly limited options for his future in Formula 1, despite the impressive job he has done making a case for his place at…
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