Pierre Gasly is aware of why he is remaining at AlphaTauri in 2021 rather than being handed a second promotion to Red Bull, according to Christian Horner.
Earlier this week Red Bull’s sister team AlphaTauri announced that Gasly would race for it once again in 2021, after a successful campaign that followed his mid-season demotion back to the team, from Red Bull, in 2019.
With a seat at the front-running Red Bull team seemingly open for 2021 amid Alexander Albon’s struggles this season, Gasly admitted surprise over not being considered for the drive.
However, Horner says Gasly has always been kept in the know regarding his future with Red Bull, citing the Frenchman as a ”key part” of AlphaTauri’s structure.
“I think it’s been made very clear to him,” Horner said. “He’s a key part of the AlphaTauri team.
“AlphaTauri has got different aspirations to Toro Rosso, it’s not purely a junior team, it’s a sister team which I’ve previously stated.
“We’re very pleased for Pierre that he’s doing a great job in that environment, he’s happy in that environment, the team are very happy with him so why break that up?
“I think that’s been made clear to him, he’s on a long-term contract with Red Bull for the next several years so we have all the information that we need on Pierre.
“He’s been made very aware throughout the discussions that his future has always laid in AlphaTauri, simply because of the evolving nature of the team and the aspirations of that team.”
Gasly took his maiden victory in F1 with AlphaTauri earlier this year, and currently sits ninth in the Drivers’ Championship on 63 points.
