“I don’t think he will get a place there”

Pierre Gasly does not hide his ambitions. In 2023 he wants to drive for a top team in Formula 1 and that basically means he has three options for him: Mercedes, Ferrari or Red Bull Racing. Gasly has repeatedly hinted he will quit AlphaTauri if he doesn’t get Sergio Perez’s seat at Red Bull, but his team boss, Franz Tost, warns him to be ‘careful’.

Perez’s contract expires after this season. Over the summer holidays, Christian Horner and Helmut Marko will assess and decide whether it will be Perez or Gasly who can take his place next to Max Verstappen in 2023. There is undoubtedly enough to be said for both options, but much will depend during the first half of the season.

Gasly, however, considers himself ready for a return to the great Red Bull in any case. The young Frenchman says he’s ready for the next step, but he doesn’t seem to have many options as many teams have already pretty much finalized the line-up for 2023. Tost therefore argues that Gasly should think carefully about leaving AlphaTauri if he didn’t have to do it at Red Bull.

Where is there room for Gasly?

Indeed, the Austrian top rightly notes that with Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, Ferrari is already ready for next season. About his chances at Mercedes, Tost tells Form1.of: “I don’t think he will get a place there.” That chance would also only come if Lewis Hamilton decides to hang up his helmet to the willows early, because the seven-time world champion, like George Russell, simply has a contract for next year.

Tost explains that the other teams currently bivouacking in the middle of Formula 1 only have a minimal lead over AlphaTauri. He argues that Gasly must then have a firm belief that he could one day win the world championship with one of these racing teams. In this regard, it might be better to wait one more season at AlphaTauri, until the 2024 season.

At least at AlphaTauri, Gasly is more than sure of his seat.“Technically, he led the team in 2021 because Yuki was a rookie. He did it very well. His knowledge of tires has also reached a very high level now. If Pierre has a good car, he is still in able to compete.” before.” According to Tost, a move from Gasly to Red Bull would be “a very logical train of thought”. “Pierre has won races, Pierre has experience and he’s a Red Bull protege.”

Gasly keeps the options open

The conversation in which Gasly definitively informs team manager Tost that he will leave the Red Bull family if there is no promotion at Red Bull has “not happened yet”, Tost finally reveals. All the cards are still on the table.