We told you this would happen, we told you. We said at the start of the 2019 F1 campaign Red Bull Racing would shit on Pierre Gasley if his promotion to the senior squad didn’t meet the team’s high-performance targets and even loftier expectations. And to be fair to Red Bull Racing Pierre Gasly hasn’t performed as well as expected. Gasly has found the RB15 difficult to suit his driving style. A good driver will find a way to adapt their driving style. But Gasley has struggled to do so. Nevertheless, his recent qualifying pace has improved. But his comparative pace has often lagged over 0.5seconds behind his teammate. In Formula 1 terms, that’s a difference measured in lightyears.
However with Max Verstappen as your teammate the driver standards at Red Bull are at stratospheric levels. Gasley is merely at a high-level, but Verstappen has unintentionally made him look like ground level. And now the knives are out at Red Bull. For a while team boss Christian Horner pretended to be Gasley’s caring and understanding friend.
But it was all a PR stunt, Gasleys recent performances have come under fire. If he crashes, he is under fire. If he qualifies in the top 5 he is under fire. If he finishes a race he is under fire. The “under fire” has now turned into under siege. Horner has begun the elimination process, no more Mr nice guy, now it’s full-on Red Bull Terminator mode.
The Frenchman’s recent performance at the Hungarian Grand Prix has let loose the Red Bull inner demons as Horner publically questioned Gasley’s up and down, down and up race.
“The start wasn’t great, the first lap wasn’t great and we shouldn’t be racing Saubers and McLarens.We need him to be racing Ferraris and Mercedes. Everything we can do to try and help them achieve that is what we’ll do.” Horner is quoted as saying.
Red Bull Racing Unleash Out The Attack Dog
The last sentence will offer some comfort, however for peace to reign, you must be ready for war. And with suspiciously perfect timing Red Bull Racing rolled out Mad Dog Marko. The veteran Red Bull attack dog gave his assessment of Gasly’s performance at the recent Hungarian GP.
“At the start he lost the positions, and then there was nothing left he could do. He is not the best overtaking man either. It has been seen by others how hard they have been. So yes, lost at the start.”
It’s fine to be criticised, it happens. But to do it in public to the media and not behind the scenes in private is a clear indication that Gasley is on the way out of Red Bull Racing. One more race of uncertainty from Gasely and his 2019 season is over.
