2016 World Champion Nico Rosberg has spoken of his admiration for the job that Pierre Gasly has been doing at Scuderia AlphaTauri since his return to the team in 2019.
Gasly began his Formula 1 career at the back end of 2017 with the then-named Toro Rosso, replacing the struggling Daniil Kvyat, who was dropped following a crash at the Singapore Grand Prix – the latest in a long line of errors that year.
The Frenchman achieved a P12 finish at the 2017 Brazilian Grand Prix and saw the chequered flag in all five races he contested, earning him a spot on the 2018 F1 grid.
With the aid of Honda power, Gasly enjoyed a strong year with Toro Rosso, claiming a fourth-placed finish at the Bahrain Grand Prix, finishing 15th in the Championship and out-qualifying team-mate Brendon Hartley 13-6.
This earned him a dream move to the senior Red Bull team in 2019, but things turned ugly very quickly.
READ: Gasly admits having Tsunoda as team-mate gave him more responsibility
Gasly was often significantly off team-mate Max Verstappen’s pace and, having been ahead of the Dutchman on the first lap of the Austrian Grand Prix that year, ended up seventh place and a lap down as he watched Verstappen win the race.
Several crashes and poor performances meant that Red Bull grew impatient, and he was replaced mid-way through the year by Toro Rosso’s Alex Albon, with Gasly moving the other way.
However, after being demoted to the sister team, he rediscovered his groove and claimed a thrilling podium finish at the Brazilian Grand Prix later in the season, earning him a further stay into 2020.
He took his maiden F1 victory last year in Monza, before finishing ninth in the Drivers’ Standings this year with extremely consistent performances.
He out-qualified rookie team-mate Yuki Tsunoda 21-1 and finished on the podium in Azerbaijan, making for one of the most impressive displays from any driver this year.
As a result, Rosberg has queried Red Bull’s reluctance to bring Gasly back into the main fold.
“Pierre is really, really awesome, to the extent where you are surprised they don’t take him back into the mother team, into Red Bull Racing,” he told Sky F1.
However, the German understands that the pressure of being in the team – and knowing what happened last time – is a big factor as to why he is still at the junior outfit.
“But you will never know if he’s able to perform under the pressure of Red Bull Racing. That’s the big question mark which is left, and that’s why they didn’t put him back in.
“But at AlphaTauri he’s doing a really phenomenal job,” the 2016 Formula 1 champion added.
Gasly and Tsunoda helped the team to a sixth-placed Constructors’ Championship finish in 2021 and have both been retained for next season.
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