Gasley - What's gone wrong?

[exelero]

I’m surprised by this, I thought Kvyat would jump in instead

[Supersam83]

Oh well Red Bull sharks have struck again.

Albon to replace Gasly from Belgian GP

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article.albon-t...

F1.com said:

It's the bombshell of the summer: Red Bull have taken the shock decision to drop Pierre Gasly and replace him with their Toro Rosso driver Alex Albon. It follows a tough season for Gasly alongside Max Verstappen – and a stellar one for rookie Albon partnering Daniil Kvyat. Gasly will return to Toro Rosso for the remainder of the year.

Albon, in his first season of F1 after finishing runner-up in last year’s FIA Formula 2 championship, has impressed all in the paddock with his speed and maturity. The British-born Thai driver has scored 16 points from his 12 Grands Prix to date, with a best result of sixth in the rain-affected German round - his first ever wet F1 race.

Gasly, by contrast, has spent 2019 struggling to keep pace with Verstappen. Having himself been promoted from Toro Rosso at the end of last season, he has been living firmly in the Dutchman’s shadow, scoring just 63 points to his team mate’s 181. The Frenchman has yet to appear on the podium in a car that has taken Verstappen to two race wins and three further top-three finishes, and has been outqualified by his team mate in every race so far.

More to follow.

Wish Albon good luck for the rest of the season and hopefully he steps up

[Mr Pointy]

That's a double kick in the nuts - both Gasly & Kyvat judged to be not worthy. I think of the two Kyvat must be the more pissed off as now he'll never drive a Red Bull so needs to look elsewhere.

[stevesuk]

I've been following the sport since the 1980s, and over that time seen plenty of drivers come and go.

Personally, I didn't see much to suggest over the past couple of years that Gasly will be future a super star. However, I would say its way too early to judge Albon too (arguably, Kvyat has been doing a better job so far this season).

With a team that's focused around Max, I can't imagine Albon being in a position to do a better job than Gasly - especially being dropped in the deep end mid-season.

Perhaps both will end up in Formula E next year

[anonymous-user]

Mr Pointy said:

That's a double kick in the nuts - both Gasly & Kyvat judged to be not worthy. I think of the two Kyvat must be the more pissed off as now he'll never drive a Red Bull so needs to look elsewhere.

Kvyat had his chance in the Red Bull so they have obviously opted for Albon.

I would not be surprised however is he finds himself in the same situation at the end of the year.

[Petrus1983]

Feel for the guy, but Max needs someone far closer to him when fighting for race wins.

[37chevy]

ELUSIVEJIM said:

Mr Pointy said:

That's a double kick in the nuts - both Gasly & Kyvat judged to be not worthy. I think of the two Kyvat must be the more pissed off as now he'll never drive a Red Bull so needs to look elsewhere.

Kvyat had his chance in the Red Bull so they have obviously opted for Albon.

I would not be surprised however is he finds himself in the same situation at the end of the year.

I just hope it’s not too soon for Albon, could be career ending if he chokes....in some respects I’d have promoted Kvyat and pitted Gasly against Albon

[TheDeuce]

Can't believe this is described as a 'bombshell'.. I think the writings been on the wall for along time!

Interesting shift for Albon though. I think he's going to have to really impress for the remainder of this season to keep his new seat going into next season. RB need and can afford a great second driver - it makes sense to try Albon before looking elsewhere, but I do think he will need to prove himself very, very quickly to deter RB from shopping around.

Best of luck to him of course, always interesting to see young drivers in a top car for the first time. Hopefully he'll produce a bit more magic than poor Gasly managed.

[TheDeuce]

Petrus1983 said:

Feel for the guy, but Max needs someone far closer to him when fighting for race wins.

Totally. If they'd had 2 Max's, or even one max and another capable of 80% the same points they'd be second in the WCC by now!

Doing the same calculations based on them having 2 Gasly's yields a somewhat different result. Goes someway to answering the age old question "how much difference does a driver make"?

[anonymous-user]

Both Gasly & Kyvat are now known quantities in the RB so it makes perfect sense to put Albon in to see what he can do.

At the end of the season they then have the delta to Max from more than one driver which makes decisions far easier for next year.

Hope Albon does well, will be interesting to watch.

[kambites]

I'd guess Redbull are more interesting in working out who's the best side-kick for Max in 2020/2021 than who will get them most points this year and in that regard it makes sense to give Albon a go.

[Frimley111R]

ELUSIVEJIM said:

Mr Pointy said:

That's a double kick in the nuts - both Gasly & Kyvat judged to be not worthy. I think of the two Kyvat must be the more pissed off as now he'll never drive a Red Bull so needs to look elsewhere.

Kvyat had his chance in the Red Bull so they have obviously opted for Albon.

Agreed, Kyvat has had more chances than most. He's good but not good enough for RB.

[kambites]

Frimley111R said:

Agreed, Kyvat has had more chances than most. He's good but not good enough for RB.

I think that depends on what Redbull want. If they're after someone to challenge Max, then no he's not good enough. If they want someone to bring in points for the constructor's championship while Max goes for the driver's championship in future seasons, Kvyat might well be the right driver now he's calmed down a bit.

I'd guess they'll give Albon the rest of this season then look long and hard at the data over the winter to work out which of the three will be the best fit next year if they're to mount a serious challenge for either title.

[HustleRussell]

exelero said:

I’m surprised by this, I thought Kvyat would jump in instead

Same

37chevy said:

ELUSIVEJIM said:

Mr Pointy said:

That's a double kick in the nuts - both Gasly & Kyvat judged to be not worthy. I think of the two Kyvat must be the more pissed off as now he'll never drive a Red Bull so needs to look elsewhere.

Kvyat had his chance in the Red Bull so they have obviously opted for Albon.

I would not be surprised however is he finds himself in the same situation at the end of the year.

I just hope it’s not too soon for Albon, could be career ending if he chokes....in some respects I’d have promoted Kvyat and pitted Gasly against Albon

I think that what we're seeing here is the fallout from Red Bull / Toro Rosso's 2017 driver hokey-cokey. They never got a proper read on Gasly because he was only really up against Hartley, and then by letting Sainz and Ricciardo go, Gasly was promoted to the top team by default. They were caught out.

I feel that it would've been better for all concerned to give Kvyat the promotion but at least now Gasly will be measured against Kvyat.

[TheDeuce]

kambites said:

I'd guess Redbull are more interesting in working out who's the best side-kick for Max in 2020/2021 than who will get them most points this year and in that regard it makes sense to give Albon a go.

Exactly. Albons opportunity to impress will be brief indeed - there is every chance they're already having informal discussions with other drivers for 2020.

Of course, if he's good enough then there's no reason they wouldn't keep him. He just might not have very long to prove as much.

[Clockwork Cupcake]

I'm confused. Didn't Christian Horner say in interview last race that he was absolutely 100% not considering dropping Gasly? Or am I getting confused with a different driver?

Mind you, we all know Horner is full of st.

[Bradgate]

Marko’s axe strikes again!

This can’t be considered a surprise considering RBRs history of ruthlessly dumping drivers and Gasly’s performances compared to Max this season.

I wish young Albon luck. He is certainly going to need it...

[thegreenhell]

Clockwork Cupcake said:

I'm confused. Didn't Christian Horner say in interview last race that he was absolutely 100% not considering dropping Gasly? Or am I getting confused with a different driver?

Mind you, we all know Horner is full of st.

That was Helmut Marko... https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/marko-gasly-red...

[Supersam83]

Also interesting point that Red Bull energy drink (which originated in Thailand as Krating Daeng) now have a Thai driver for their F1 team.

[TheDeuce]

Clockwork Cupcake said:

I'm confused. Didn't Christian Horner say in interview last race that he was absolutely 100% not considering dropping Gasly? Or am I getting confused with a different driver?

Mind you, we all know Horner is full of st.

He's not dropped, he's still in the RB family I guess

Horner: not exactly a liar but willfully disingenuous.