My Formula 1 prediction-odometer has always been wildly inaccurate. I said Red Bull Racing would give Pierre Gasly just one more race to turn around and improve his performances. But Red Bull Racing are not as forgiving as I anticipated. With immediate effect Gasly has been demoted back to Torro Rosso and replaced with Alexander Albon. Gasley has struggled to get to grips with the RB15 since he replaced Daniel Ricciardo for the 2019 F1 campaign. On top of that his decision making during the races has been publically questioned by Mad Dog Marko and Christian Horner. The latter signals an attack dog mentality by the Red Bull Racing hierarchy. At the start of the F1 season, they both allowed Gasly to get on with the job.

However, Gasly never got on at all, spins, crashing and struggling to match the speed of his stratospheric-performing teammate. Now Gasly has finally felt the full effects of the Red Bull bow-shock and he has been brought back to earth. Well back to Torro Rosso, back to where he started.

Alexander Albon replaces Gasly, a straight swap from Red Bull Racing B squad to A squad duties. But it all appears a bit Police Squad from the outside, but nevertheless, Albon has been promoted to the senior squad. It’s out of the “land of daisies” and into the fire for the Thai driver.

Albon will not have any issues getting up to speed with the RB15, he is an intelligent driver and has speed. Will it be enough to match Max Verstappen? He’ll get close, closer than Gasly for sure and on one occasion he might out-qualify his new teammate.

Red Bull Racing are giving Albon the remainder of the season to prove his value to the team. And he will. Quite an achievement for a rookie driver with half the 2019 season gone. Naturally, Albon was enthusiastic about the new challenge ahead, via Twitter he wrote:

“Surreal to have been given this massive opportunity Red Bull Racing! It’s a big jump into the deep end, but I’ve got my swimming shorts on!” 

And he will need those swimming trunks for sure and a steel cage. Because when he is lowered into the Red Bull sea the Red Bull sharks will sense blood if he underperforms. And if Albon does underperform he’ll quickly be six foot under with Christian Horner burying him with a smile.