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.

British GP Report 2021: “It takes two to tango”

The British Grand Prix is always a momentous occasion, with its classic track boasting some of the world's fastest and most challenging corners flowing through the sea of emotion that is one of the most passionate crowds in sport. I'm bias - I know. This year, the weekend had it all: a trial format that worked well, moments of brilliance from all of the home drivers and an era-defining race that had us on the edge of our seats (and often off them) from lights to flag. 

Friday saw the teams go straight from a late practice one into an evening qualifying. This was a fantastic way to get people excited on a Friday and allow people to get home from work to watch. The event didn't disappoint. We had George Russell being cheered around the lap to qualify a remarkable 8th position and Lewis Hamilton shocking Red Bull by snatching pole position with a remarkable lap. The energy was already high, and that's what we all love to see.

Saturday was the day of the 17-lap sprint qualifying race, which would decide the starting order for Sunday's Grand Prix. The championship leader, Max Verstappen, managed to beat Lewis Hamilton off the line to take the lead and eventual win. But the star of Saturday was Fernando Alonso, who managed to climb from 11th to 5th position in the first lap. While he did drop places to the two McLaren drivers, that lap showed that he's still got it, and  7th was a great starting position for Sunday's Grand Prix.

Speaking of Sunday, explosive would probably be the best word. 

When the lights went out, the battle between the seasoned champion Hamilton and young star Verstappen was awesome. You felt like there was something in the air. Dicing and banging wheels, the crowd were roaring as the two went head to head. As they headed towards the high-speed Copse corner, Hamilton dummied left and pulled alongside Verstappen on the right. Verstappen squeezed Hamilton against the wall, nobody yielded, Verstappen turned in, and the result was inevitable. The cars collided. Verstappen flew into the tyre barrier, and Hamilton continued, albeit in second position as the incident allowed Charles Leclerc to seize the lead. 

Who was to blame? I believe that it was a racing incident. If nobody goes for a gap in a race, then no overtakes will happen. Neither driver pulled out. Therefore, they were both responsible. Max's crash was a big enough penalty, and so Hamilton received a ten-second penalty. Listen to more on that on the podcast.

Out came a red flag and a race restart beckoned. 

Charles Leclerc is arguably as good a driver as Max Verstappen. He showed it on Sunday in his less competitive Ferrari, controlling the race brilliantly, leading for fifty laps. 

Meanwhile, Hamilton dropped back to fourth position but had been pumping in scintillating laps to catch the Monegasque. The champion overtook Norris at Copse, was waved by Bottas. He threw it down the inside of Leclerc on the penultimate lap, snatching the lap to a roar on home soil. 

It was one of the drives of the season from Leclerc and heart-breaking for him not to have won for an Italian team in England - a rare occurrence.

Bottas followed Hamilton and Leclerc home for the podium, with the McLarens of Norris and Ricciardo scoring a solid fourth and fifth. Sadly Russell dropped back out of the points, but some great drives by Alonso, Tssanoda and Stroll also saw them in the points. 

Is the British Grand Prix the best race in the world? It's hard to argue otherwise.

Biggest Winner: The F1 title fight

While Lewis Hamilton is an obvious contender for this award, winning at his home track for the eighth time and catching Verstappen in the championship a significant amount, he is still behind. I believe that this race and that incident are crucial in bringing the two drivers closer together on points, heating the ferocious rivalry between them. Max is uncompromising, and Lewis will be smart but not bullied.

Biggest Loser: Christian Horner

I would say that those who racially abused Lewis Hamilton during and following the Grand Prix are the biggest losers, but that would be going easy on their vile behaviour. They can sod off, and social media companies must do better.

Christian Horner was the biggest loser this weekend. His emotional reaction to the crash showed the signs of a team that had just lost 25 points in their lead, had their car written off and driver involved in a 51 G accident. It was scary, and the most important thing is that Max is okay. Nevertheless, Red Bull’s defence of Max’s part in the crash became an attack on Lewis Hamilton’s sportsmanship or right to celebrate winning his home Grand Prix. Naturally, they were upset, but those people that know Formula One know that Lewis Hamilton has won in a fair way for almost 15 years. Unfortunately,  the word that Horner continued to use, ‘desperate’, was what he appeared on Sunday. As for his argument that you can’t overtake at Copse, Lewis Hamilton took the race lead at the same corner. The difference was that Charles Leclerc gave racing room to avoid an incident.

Moment of the Weekend: George Russell’s Friday night flyer

There were many stand out montes, and the incident between the two main championship protagonists was perhaps the moment of the year.  

A special moment was watching George Russell driving a lap in Q3 on his own around Silverstone being cheered the whole way around the lap. What was more was that he qualified in eighth - staggering given that he is in the ninth fastest car. The guy is undoubtedly a future world champion. Even I am beginning to think that his move to Mercedes will need to be this year, even if it will give Mercedes a big headache in the next couple of years.

Honourable Mention: Charles Leclerc

Charles has been on it all weekend, qualifying in P4 and finishing the sprint race in the same position. He took the opportunist move into the lead when the gap arrived following Hamilton and Verstappen’s clash, Allowing him to start from pole after the red flag. While many might have thought Hamilton would dash past, Leclerc held the lead and created a comfortable gap. He led 50 out of 52 laps and showed his composure and racecraft to be up there with the best. Is Charles better than Max? Not yet, but I believe he can be and will be when Ferrari create a proper challenger.

AJontheLine Line of the Week: “I won’t be bullied”

I loved Toto Wolf’s request to Michael Masi that the F1 race director checked his emails as Mercedes had sent him something of interest. But the line of the week has to be from Lewis Hamilton, who said that he wouldn’t let Max bully him. Lewis winning this battle against Max, who tends to get his way due to his aggressive reputation, is what caused such anger at Red Bull. Still, it could change the way that Max sees racing with Lewis. F1 is a fascinating mental game, and I love it.

So, next up, Budapest. I believe that Red Bull and Ferrari will be better suited to the track than Mercedes but is Lewis in Max’s head? Follow the action in 2 weeks to find out.