Daniel Brennan medal 5000 5 years 115 days ago
Welcome back to another Forum Friday discussion topic, and this one has been one of the most prevalent questions throughout the F1 paddock for most of this season - should Red Bull fire Pierre Gasly?
Many of his performances have been extremely poor, often finishing behind midfield teams after poor qualifying results or a poor race start, compared to his teammate Max Verstappen who has two wins to his name already this season - in one of those wins in Austria, he even lapped Pierre!
Pierre has shown signs of progress in recent races - a strong qualifying and a P4 finish in Silverstone, along with a P4 qualifying result in the last race in Germany - but is it too little too late?
Let me know your thoughts and feelings both in the poll above and the replies below!
Connor Cooper medal 4923 Super Mod 5 years 115 days ago
On one hand, I believe they should fire him. This season, Max Verstappen has shown that it is possible to win and get podiums in a Red Bull but Pierre Gasly has not scored a podium all season.
However, on the other hand, he definitely needs more time to adjust to Red Bull. Verstappen has been there for a few years now and so should be expected to out-perform a new driver to the team.
Overall, I think they should wait until the end of the seaon to see if he can get an all-important podium ( or even win) and decided whether to fire him or not from there.
James Richards medal 5000 5 years 115 days ago
So my opinion is to treat him like Daniil Kvyat - Swap and wait. If he can't make it decent in the Toro Rosso (Win a "Best of the rest") then put the fire at the end of the season.
This race in Hungary before the summer break is the last shot. Podium / Win or nothing.
Neil Kumar medal 5000 5 years 115 days ago
While I like Pierre's personality and really want him to succeed in Formula One, I still don't think that he has done enough to justify him staying at RBR. He has come up short to not only Max but also is struggling to keep up with top five and more often than not is found tangling with the midfield. While it's possible that the RBR isn't that good in the first place (Max has been sublime this season and has outperformed his car)or the car doesn't suit Gasly at all, but still, he, as a RBR driver, shouldn't be fighting with the midfield for points. He just has to perform, Marko still has patience as evident by his remarks that Gasly will stay this season, but if he continues struggling, I am unsure how much Marko will tolerate, he is a ruthless taskmaster and will not hesitate once he decides to fire Gasly.
But then, if you demote Gasly and get in Kvyat or Albon, I'm not sure how either of them will measure up to Max. As Albon is new and still raw, he will get ripped apart by Max, and we would be seeing an even magnified version of Gasly- talented, but too pressurised. Kvyat would be promoted after sometime, but I don't think that time is now. He is getting back into his groove and has been driving confidently, but I think he too, would struggle alot when compared to Max, as mid season changes are rarely smooth and easy for a changing driver and if Kvyat is shattered mentally again, I don't know what it will take to revive his career again. So, I think, that for the moment, they should allow Gasly to continue, as they are still short of options who could really do better than what has Gasly done against Verstappen, but if Gasly doesn't improve, he should be exchanged with Kvyat next season.
Tom Howard medal 5003 5 years 115 days ago
I hope Gasly will get into gear and start doing something in that Red bull, Britain showed good promise and Germany he did have some bad luck (1st pit stop dropped him to 19th!) and a puncture resulting in a DNF. Hungary if he can keep up enough with max then he should stay to the end of the season. Adrian Newey said he will stay to the end of the season but I won't take his word for it. If Gasly doesn't perform in Hungary i reckon they'll do a swap getting Kvyat in Red Bull to replace Gasly going back to Toro Rosso.
