Dr Helmut Marko admits he is considering giving Pierre Gasly another shot at Red Bull’s top Formula 1 team, Red Bull Racing.
The Frenchman, now 26, struggled alongside Max Verstappen in 2019 before a mid-season relegation to Toro Rosso, where he is now the solid leader of the junior team (now AlphaTauri).
But Gasly, who sensationally won the Italian GP in 2020, repeated to Canal Plus this week that getting another chance with a top team was just a “a matter of time”.
“We still have a contract with him until 2023,” responds Marko, also responsible for Red Bull’s driver program.
“If this contract expires and we can’t offer him a chance for promotion, we will most likely lose him. And we don’t want that.”
Gerhard Berger recently said that Gasly was “good enough for another chance” at Red Bull Racing, where the experienced Sergio Perez currently officiates as Verstappen’s team-mate.
“Gerhard is right,” admet Marko. “But at the moment we still have a contract with Checo.”
“We have to compare the performances of these two drivers. We still have until the middle of the year with Checo to do it.”
This last comment implies that Perez’s current one-year deal includes an option, which is usually activated by Formula 1 teams at the end of the summer.
Perez gave his own cause a big boost in Saudi Arabia with a sensational pole position.
“I think there is no circuit as tough as this,” he said in Jeddah. “If I can get pole here, I can get pole anywhere in the world.”
Marko agrees and adds: “Our 2022 F1 suits him better now, he feels more comfortable and he knows the team. We are very happy that this development has taken place.”
The choice will therefore not be easy for the Austrian …
