That is the claim made by former Caterham F1 driver Giedo van der Garde, who says Gasly would be “destroyed” by Max Verstappen if he were to have another crack at being the Dutchman’s team-mate.
After just a season-and-a-bit with Red Bull’s second team Toro Rosso, Gasly was promoted to the senior outfit in 2019 as the replacement for Daniel Ricciardo, but by the summer break, Red Bull sent him back to the B-team, where he remained until leaving the fold for Alpine in 2023.
However, it appears an opening at Red Bull will soon re-emerge with Perez set to depart after an underwhelming F1 2024 campaign.
The still rather inexperienced Liam Lawson has emerged as the frontrunner to step up and take over as Verstappen’s team-mate, but could Red Bull opt for experience and give Gasly a call about making the switch from Alpine to have another shot in the Red Bull?
“They will never do that. They will never do that,” stressed van der Garde when speaking on De Race Show.
And Gasly, according to van der Garde, should not entertain the idea of returning to Red Bull to be Verstappen’s team-mate again, as it would end very badly for him.
“Gasly is a good fit for Alpine,” van der Garde continued. “He certainly doesn’t want to touch Max Verstappen, because he will be destroyed. He won’t do that. He’s in a fantastic position.”
Red Bull does have a more experienced driver at their junior team who they could call upon, that being Yuki Tsunoda who has impressed in his fourth F1 season with the second team, while the Japanese racer got his first taste of Red Bull machinery when he drove the 2024 RB20 in the Abu Dhabi post-season test.
With Gasly followed by Alex Albon and now Perez in terms of struggling to adapt to the Red Bull machinery like Verstappen can, Tsunoda made it clear to the Red Bull higher-ups plotting out their F1 2025 line-ups that he felt the RB20 was a good match for his driving style.
“The Abu Dhabi post season test has been so fun today, it’s the first time in the past four years that I have driven a different car,” Tsunoda reflected.
“You can physically feel why the RB20 has been fighting for a championship this year, it feels like a very different car to drive.
“We have had a very proactive day today so I am really happy with that.
There is still a lot of learning that I have to do but the team have done a great job of preparing such a great run today, it’s been such an enjoyable atmosphere in the garage.
“I feel like the car suits my driving style and I haven’t struggled much at all to adapt, even on the long runs I have been able to run consistently today and was able to feel the limitations of the car which if you don’t have confidence in the car you are unable to test.
“I am happy more than ever at the moment and making sure that the team have the information that they require from each run is the most important thing to get out of today.”
