The curious case of Pierre Gasly

When the F1 world thinks about drivers with uncertain futures, Pierre Gasly is a name that doesn’t necessarily come immediately off the tongue. However, he is on that list, which is frankly mad based on his performances over the past few years.

Despite being a race winner, team leader and fan favourite, news in recent days suggests that Pierre’s position at AlphaTauri could be under question.

Sergio Perez’s contract extension with Red Bull was announced last week following the Mexican clumsily mentioning the deal on the live feed following his excellent win in Monaco. The correct decision for Red Bull’s senior team, as proven by Perez’s performance on that wet day.

“So what next for the Frenchman?”

This news effectively closes the door to another promotion to Red Bull for Gasly. So what next for the Frenchman?

In reality, the status quo works for Pierre and for AlphaTauri. Gasly and Yuki Tsunoda are a great pairing of youth, speed and the ability to improve quickly. That is precisely what Red Bull’s junior team need in their drivers. It is also clear that Pierre is the team leader, happy and comfortable.

There aren’t any Red Bull drivers that obviously need promoting from the feeder series. Yet, Pierre’s position cannot last forever in what is a junior team. They say that once you are comfortable within your role, you should move on to something more challenging to develop further. So one way or another, it would be beneficial for the growth of Pierre Gasly to move on.

“Pierre was not just uncomfortable - he was out of his depth”

The issue is that when he last moved on, he was in a tricky car next to one of the quickest on the grid in Max Verstappen. Pierre was not just uncomfortable - he was out of his depth. And you can’t help but feel that a part of him may fear leaving his family in Florenza.

Where should Gasly go?

I wrote an article on Daniel Ricciardo’s future in F1, and McLaren will be critical in the driver market. If they ditch Daniel, all dominos will begin to fall. Zak Brown may have an interest in IndyCar drivers. However, the reality is that Pierre is a known quantity and rated well in the F1 paddock. So he will surely be on the shortlist.

Pierre would be an excellent signing for McLaren. He may be as quick as Lando Norris, but enough to ensure that both cars are up there and keep Woking’s leading man honest. It’s the same reason Gasly would be a suitable Mercedes recruit if Hamilton was to make a shock retirement (as much as this would disappoint Nick De Vries).

Crucially, something that counts against Pierre is that Red Bull’s top team seems to have a problem even considering Gasly returning to the team. It appears as though Pierre was more distracted by bad results and found it difficult to move on compared to Sergio Perez.

“other teams will have underlying concerns of history repeating”

While it is true that Pierre was parachuted into a demanding scenario at a young age, other teams will have underlying concerns of history repeating when considering his services.

While most people watching F1 would assume that Gasly will safely have a long successful F1 career, there is a fear that he will be left behind by his peers and replaced by someone new.

Pierre Gasly’s next career move will define his F1 legacy.

Our F1 season predictions were probably wrong - and that’s tremendous

Last week, we did a podcast episode on AJontheLine, predicting the upcoming F1 season. And while it was enjoyable, with some exciting and amusing thoughts, I suspect that our predictions will be whole-heartedly wrong. But that’s tremendous.

While one may look at this poor foresight as a lack of knowledge or understanding, I look at it differently. It means that we are heading towards a fascinating season of Formula 1.

I put Red Bull as the fourth fastest car, but that looks wrong as they seem favourites now. Similarly, I put Alpine last, and they seem quick as I write during the first practice session of the season. 

I could see Charles Leclerc as one of the biggest favourites for the championship in that lightning-fast Ferrari, but how can I count out his teammate Carlos Sainz? He beat Leclerc last year and held his own against Max Verstappen back in their Toro Rosso days. The fastest Ferrari driver battle will be a spicy and tightly-contested spectacle - and it could decide the champion.

Mercedes look like they are genuinely struggling with ‘porpoising’ (listen to this podcast for more on that) but have a fast car if they can sort that out. Will they come back later in the season? Will their drivers, Lewis Hamilton and George Russell, the legend and the apprentice, remain harmonious? They surely need to initially as they get their car back to the front.

McLaren is so hard to call as well. Surely Lando Norris can find his first victory and Daniel Ricciardo his form. However, those brake issues were less than ideal last week. Either way, it is so good to see the team in a good, stable place with plenty of sponsors.

Then there is the ‘midfield’, the most confusing of the lot. Any remaining team could be the best of the rest or better on any given weekend. Will Haas, having dropped their Russian money for an old friend, be the biggest surprise? Will Fernando Alonso get the championship battle he returned to F1 for? Will Alpha Tauri shock the world and be better than the midfield? Pierre Gasly was fastest in the first session of the year, and young Yuki Tsunoda looks ready to balance his unfiltered brilliance with maturity.

There are so many questions, and those above are just the tip of the iceberg. This is a new F1 season feeling, but this time it is all-new. The shakeup in the regulations means that we can’t call anything. And that’s more than okay. Sit back, enjoy this season and join us on AJontheLine for all of the biggest talking points.