Why Red Bull's Pierre Gasly / Alexander Albon bombshell was inevitable

Pierre Gasly

Why Red Bull's Gasly bombshell was inevitable

It should have been expected.

Matthew Scott

Friday 16 August 2019 18:06

Red Bull's decision to demote Pierre Gasly was "inevitable" according to former F1 racer Karun Chandhok, himself a former member of Dr Helmut Marko's junior programme.

Gasly's intra-team trouncing at the hands of Max Verstappen pushed Red Bull into action, with Alexander Albon promoted to the senior team just 12 races into his F1 career to replace him.

The Frenchman was unable to better his best result from last season with Toro Rosso, and sits 118 points behind Verstappen – twice a race-winner this year – in the drivers' standings at the summer break.

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"As much as I like Gasly and think that his season just hasn't done justice to his natural talent, this was an inevitable demotion for him after the first 12 races," Chandhok wrote for Sky Sports.

"The performance gap between him and Max has been too much for a top team like Red Bull to justify. Red Bull are in a fortunate position where they can chop and change drivers to evaluate options for the future, so why not?

"It's a tall order to jump into a top team like Red Bull and especially alongside a phenomenal talent like Verstappen. I think we've all got to give Albon a couple of races to settle in considering he hasn't even driven the Red Bull car but he's thus far been a very impressive rookie.

"I thought his ability to recover from a tough situation in practice in China to climb back up the order in the race, as well as his drive in Germany have both been outstanding."

Eyebrows were raised that the more experienced Kvyat was not selected to replace Gasly, but Chandhok understands the decision.

"He grabbed the headlines in Germany with that podium but it was a fortuitous strategic call that got him there whereas Albon looked like being the one to get the better result until that point," Chandhok added.

"Plus, Red Bull know what Kvyat can do but Albon is still in his early development stage and will just get better with time."