Subscribe

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Autosport Plus

Discover premium content
Subscribe

Red Bull F1 team promises to give Pierre Gasly time to impress

Red Bull Formula 1 team boss Christian Horner thinks it essential Pierre Gasly is given time to get up to speed this year given his earlier than planned promotion

Gasly has been drafted in from Toro Rosso to replace Daniel Ricciardo, who decided to switch to Renault for 2019, alongside Max Verstappen.

Although Red Bull has a history of being ruthless on drivers that do not perform, Horner said his team needs to be responsible with Gasly and let him adjust to the step up to a top team so early in his F1 career.

"Pierre is a very quick driver and it is up to us to give him a little bit of time to get up to speed," Horner told Autosport.

"It is faster than we would have originally liked to elevate him into the team, so Max will be very much taking on the role of the experienced senior driver and Pierre is going to have to go up against a very competitive team-mate."

Horner admitted that Gasly is not going to have a straightforward time in battling the more experienced Verstappen, now a five-time grand prix winner and part of the Red Bull team since mid-2016.

"It is not going to be easy," Horner said. "Of course it is not. But he knows what is expected of him.

"And in actual fact, for the team, it is a far easier scenario than it has been in previous years. We have got a clear difference between the experience in the two drivers and the expectations."

Horner is also convinced that Verstappen is now able to perform at his best all the time, after a strong end to a 2018 campaign that had begun with a string of incidents.

"You are always learning and he is such a young driver," said Horner.

"What we have seen is that all drivers make mistakes. We have seen that with experienced drivers as well.

"As he is gaining more and more experience he is applying it extremely well."

Be part of the Autosport community

Join the conversation
Previous article The 2019 F1 rule changes you might have missed
Next article Formula 1 rethinking all its TV camera positions for 2019

Top Comments

There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Autosport Plus

Discover premium content
Subscribe