Christian Horner has revealed that Red Bull Racing would consider welcoming Pierre Gasly back to the team in 2023 as the Frenchman continues to thrive at the sister Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda team.
Gasly was brought into the Red Bull team in 2019 but failed to thrive in the environment alongside Max Verstappen and was replaced by Alexander Albon midway through the campaign. The Frenchman returned to AlphaTauri (then known as Scuderia Toro Rosso), and since has taken his maiden Grand Prix victory in Italy in 2020 as well as podiums in Brazil 2019 and Azerbaijan this year.
Albon’s tenure at Red Bull only lasted until the end of the 2020 season, with the team opting to bring in Sergio Pérez for 2021, and the Mexican has already been confirmed to remain with the team going into 2022.
In a recent interview with Formula1.com, Horner, the Team Principal at Red Bull, says the team has many options for who could drive for them in 2023, and Gasly’s name remains in the discussions.
“I would never rule anything out,” said Horner. “He’s driving at a very nice standard. He’s still very young, he’s doing a great job. For 2023, we have multiple options available to us, so when you’re in the situation that we are, that’s exactly what we want.
“Pierre Gasly has done a phenomenal job with AlphaTauri the last couple of seasons, and their aspirations continue to grow, so for him to retain the lead drive there is good. He remains a Red Bull Racing driver on loan to AlphaTauri.”
Gasly has responded to Horner’s comments, and the Frenchman says it is up to him to continue to show Red Bull just what he is capable of during his time with AlphaTauri.
So far in 2021, Gasly has scored ten top-ten finishes including his podium in Azerbaijan and has made it through to Q3 in twelve of the fifteen Qualifying sessions so far with a best starting position of fourth. He sits ninth in the Drivers’ Championship standings on sixty-six points and is forty-eight points clear of team-mate Yuki Tsunoda.
“Obviously I really appreciate these words, to see that my work is valued and seen by Christian,” said Gasly to The Race.
“So, yeah, you know, we still have a lot of time [left], at the moment the focus is on them to get the championship, the world championship for this year, they have another shot at it next year with a big regulation change, we are talking about things that could happen in twelve months’ time.
“And my job will be to keep showing them that I have the potential to deliver the job there, and we’ll see what will happen for 2023.”