Pierre Gasly has received a word of caution from former F1 driver Paul di Resta that he cannot ignore, and it has to do with Helmut Marko.
The Frenchman will take up the race seat at Red Bull from next season after a little more than a year at Toro Rosso because he met Red Bull’s Motorsport boss Helmut Marko’s expectations.
But that is only one step on a slippery ladder di Resta warned. Gasly will need to continue his forward momentum or he will risk the same fate as Daniil Kvyat and get kicked back to Torro Rosso, di Resta added.
Speaking with Motorsport, he said: “If Marko chooses someone, he will take it seriously,”
“But in front of every rider who gets promoted, there is also a driver he drops, he is pretty ruthless.
“Some were fired (too early) when I was not sure they deserved something like that. You only have a chance if he feels that you really deserve it.”
Having been with Red Bull family for a long time, Gasly knows about Marko’s ruthlessness all too well.
Back in 2016 when the overconfident Frenchman suggested he could replace Kvyat in Singapore, Marko was angry and made it evident to everyone.
Another former F1 driver Martin Brundle agreed with Di Resta’s thinking, adding that Marko dropped several drivers without giving them enough time to show their skills.
“With Vettel, Ricciardo and Verstappen, you cannot say that he really did anything wrong,” Brundle said.
“People like Buemi and Vergne have not been given enough time in F1.”
It is going to be a hard task for Gasly to hold on to his seat when he has Max Verstappen as the teammate.
Kvyat will return to F1 in 2019 after spending a year on the sidelines. This will be the third chance for the Russian at Toro Rosso.
