Gasly reveals painful truth about Red Bull exit
Gasly reveals painful truth about Red Bull exit
* The following article is taken from a personally penned piece by Pierre Gasly on 'The Players Tribune' that publishes first-person stories from professional athletes. For the full article, click here
Pierre Gasly has finally opened up on his painful exit from Red Bull in 2019, claiming he was never fully supported nor given the tools he needed to succeed.
Following a fine full debut season with Toro Rosso in 2018, Gasly was promoted to Red Bull for the start of the following campaign.
The French driver, however, feels he lost the immediate backing of the team after a crash in pre-season testing at Barcelona's Circuit de Catalunya from which he never regained their trust.
It eventually led to his demotion back to Toro Rosso during the August break, and may now explain why he never appeared to be in the running for a return despite a stellar season with AlphaTauri last year.
Describing the move from Toro Rosso to Red Bull at the time as "realising a dream", Gasly added: "I wish I could tell you it was exactly what I thought it would be — what I wanted it to be. But it wasn’t. It just wasn’t.
"From the moment I made my first mistake in a car, I felt like people there slowly began to turn on me. I’d had a crash in winter testing, and from that moment on the season never really got going.
"Then I had a tough first two races with Red Bull and the media just ate me up. Anything I said in the press was twisted into an excuse for my form, and nobody really stuck up for me.
"The car wasn’t perfect, and I was doing my best to try to improve and learn each week, but like ... here’s what I’ll say about it: It was a difficult time for me at Red Bull because I didn’t feel like I was really supported and treated the same way as others there have been.
"And for me … that’s something that I just can’t accept. I was working my ass off every day, trying to get results for the team, but I was not being given all the tools I needed to succeed.
"I would try to offer solutions, but my voice wasn’t heard, or it would take weeks to see changes. For whatever reason, I was never going to be a fit in that seat — it was just never going to work.
"I’m not the type of person to start stuff in the media, because I am truly grateful to Red Bull for the chance, as well as for everything they’ve done for me in my career. I really am. But I’m allowed to tell my truth. So, that’s it. That’s the truth."
Gasly explained that despite reaching out to Red Bull team principal Christian Horner for help as to where he could improve that summer in 2019, he was instead informed he was being dropped.
The article primarily takes you through the emotions Gasly went through, notably as he then lost close friend Anthoine Hubert later that same month following a horrific accident in the F2 race in Belgium, and how his memory inspired him to rise up and on, culminating in his Italian Grand Prix triumph in September.
Related
Change your timezone:
Latest News
F1 Sprint Qualifying Today: Chinese Grand Prix 2024 start times, schedule and TV
- 11 minutes ago
Marko suggests 'exciting' move to REPLACE Ricciardo
- 41 minutes ago
F1 Practice Today: Chinese Grand Prix 2024 start times, schedule and TV
- 1 hour ago
2024 Sprint changes show F1 is listening to fix imperfect format
- 1 hour ago
F1 Chinese Grand Prix: Full track layout for Shanghai International Circuit
- 2 hours ago
Alonso hints at F1 retirement date after historic contract
- 2 hours ago
F1 Race Calendar
-
GP BAHRAIN
29 Feb - 2 Mar
Max Verstappen
-
GP SAUDI ARABIA
7 - 9 Mar
Max Verstappen
-
GP AUSTRALIA
22 - 24 Mar
Carlos Sainz
-
GP JAPAN
5 - 7 Apr
Max Verstappen
- GP CHINA 19 - 21 Apr
- GP USA 3 - 6 May
- GP ITALY 17 - 19 May
- GP MONACO 24 - 26 May
- GP CANADA 7 - 9 Jun
Related news
F1 team announces 2026 title bid in BLOW to Red Bull
Wolff 'p*****' by Verstappen error as star makes Mercedes debut
Driver suggests Newey tempted by 'enticing' offer from F1 rivals
Red Bull boss Horner SHUTS DOWN F1 rival Wolff's title talk
F1 Standings
Drivers
- Oliver Bearman
- Charles Leclerc
- Carlos Sainz
- Lando Norris
- Oscar Piastri
- Pierre Gasly
- Esteban Ocon
- Sergio Pérez
- Max Verstappen
- Alexander Albon
- Logan Sargeant
- Lewis Hamilton
- George Russell
- Nico Hülkenberg
- Kevin Magnussen
- Fernando Alonso
- Lance Stroll
- Valtteri Bottas
- Zhou Guanyu
- Daniel Ricciardo
- Yuki Tsunoda
Races
- Gulf Air Grand Prix of Bahrain 2024
- Saudi Arabian Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Australia 2024
- MSC Cruises Grand Prix of Japan 2024
- Grand Prix of China 2024
- Miami Grand Prix 2024
- Gran Premio dell'Emilia Romagna 2024
- Grand Prix of Monaco 2024
- Grand Prix du Canada 2024
- Gran Premio de España 2024
- Grand Prix of Austria 2024
- Grand Prix of Great Britain 2024
- Grand Prix of Hungary 2024
- Grand Prix of Belgium 2024
- Heineken Dutch Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Italy 2024
- Grand Prix of Azerbaijan 2024
- Grand Prix of Singapore 2024
- Grand Prix of the United States 2024
- Gran Premio de la Ciudad de Mexico 2024
- Grande Prêmio de São Paulo 2024
- Heineken Silver Las Vegas Grand Prix 2024
- Qatar Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi 2024
About GPFans
GPFans is a multi-platform, multi-language brand dedicated to Formula One coverage. We bring you all the ins and outs of the sport, 24/7, everything from up-to-the-minute news and features to the latest viral stories and clips.We believe that a new generation of exciting, outspoken drivers will make F1 more popular than ever before, and we want to give our users access to as much of their heroes as possible, on and off the track. From Lewis Hamilton to Max Verstappen, Daniel Ricciardo to Sebastian Vettel, we provide in-depth analysis of every every Grand Prix in the season, from Australia to Abu Dhabi.
With Formula One under the new ownership of Liberty Media, how the sport is being covered is evolving, and GPFans will look to be at the heart of this progression into new media, as one of the fastest-growing sites covering the king of motorsports.
Follow us on your favorite social media channel
Corporate & Media
Innovatieweg 20C7007 CD, Doetinchem, Netherlands
+31645516860