Why two Red Bull rejects are finally feeling at home
Pierre Gasly and Daniil Kvyat's stays of execution with the newly rebranded AlphaTauri team is at odds with the renowned ruthlessness of Red Bull guru Helmut Marko. Now the chance to extend their F1 careers beyond 2020 lies in their hands
The ruthless reality of Red Bull's junior programme isn't exactly new. But some of its members getting second chances is a relatively recent change.
In 2017, Brendon Hartley was brought back after a Le Mans-winning spell as part of Porsche's LMP1 sportscar team. At the end of the following year, Alexander Albon was plucked from a plum Formula E deal with Nissan e.dams to rejoin the Red Bull fold, and Daniil Kvyat, who had barely just been jettisoned when Hartley and Pierre Gasly were being brought through, returned to Toro Rosso.
Share Or Save This Story
Alex Kalinauckas is Autosport's Grand Prix Editor, covering every Formula 1 race since the start of 2020. After completing a master's degree in journalism at Goldsmiths College University of London in 2014, he worked for a range of motorsport and technology publications while covering national racing as an Autosport freelancer.
A lifelong motorsport fan - no one in his family can explain quite how or why such a development first occurred - Alex joined the Autosport staff in April 2017 as the magazine’s Assistant Editor covering Formula 2 and GP3, before being made Formula E correspondent and Autosport.com’s Plus Editor in March 2018. He lives in north-east London and is constantly frustrated by the Central Line.
More from Alex Kalinauckas
10 things we learned from the 2024 F1 Chinese Grand Prix
Chinese Grand Prix Driver Ratings 2024
Red Bull says it can't match "very lucrative" Audi F1 offer to Sainz
How the F1 driver market situation sits for each team with 2025 openings
Sainz: All my best 2025 F1 seat options are "still open"
Norris: McLaren can win races in F1 2024 if it gets everything right
Alonso: Stroll more sensitive to Aston F1 car handling issues I drive around
What's been going wrong for Leclerc in F1's tiny margins qualifying game
Latest news
Arrow McLaren confirms Pourchaire for Barber Motorsports Park
Did F1's new sprint format work?
McLaren "surprised" by China F1 race pace after sprint struggles
Could Acosta get a Verstappen-like mid-season promotion to KTM in MotoGP 2024?
Autosport Plus
Did F1's new sprint format work?
Chinese Grand Prix Driver Ratings 2024
Why Verstappen's China F1 win was a sideshow to the real battle
How the pursuit of marginal F1 gains caused Sauber's pitstop stumbles
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.