Pierre Gasly believes his demotion from Red Bull midway through the 2019 Formula 1 season “wasn’t fair”, adding that he hopes to discuss it with Helmut Marko.
Daniel Ricciardo’s unexpected decision to depart Red Bull for Renault for 2019 prompted Gasly to receive a promotion to the senior side only one year into his F1 career.
However, the Frenchman struggled considerably alongside Max Verstappen, who out-qualified Gasly at every round and outscored him by 181 points to 63 points.
Consequently, Red Bull elected to initiate a straight swap between Gasly and Alex Albon during the summer break, relegating the former back to its second-string outfit.
Despite a series of impressive showings for the Faenza-based squad, Gasly was overlooked for a return to Red Bull, eventually opting to move on to Alpine this season.
Asked on F1’s Beyond the Grid podcast if he had spoken to Red Bull advisor Marko since his exit over the winter, Gasly said: “No. I hope one day we get the chance to but I know deep inside, they’re smart people. They might have their own opinions on certain things but there are clear things which were obvious. It’s the way that it was.
“It wasn’t really fair but anyway, that’s the way it was. I’ve learned as well that the sport is not always fair. I’ve really sort of closed the chapter when I left AlphaTauri and opened a brand new story with Alpine and I think I’ve reached a level of experience and skills and mindfulness right now, which thanks to my previous experiences allow me to be better today than I was yesterday.”
Gasly’s first outing since being dropped by Red Bull came on the race weekend at Spa-Francorchamps where his close friend Anthoine Hubert died in a Formula 2 crash.
The now 27-year-old admits that loss changed his approach towards life.
“It was a shock,” Gasly reflected. “It’s funny because I was just in my phone photo library, looking back at some pictures and I ended up seeing the pictures with Anthoine from back in the days when we were at school together and the last dinner that we had in Budapest before the summer break.
“We were actually planning to go out and at the last minute I didn’t go, I didn’t feel like going and I remember just saying bye from the sidewalk and I still see him standing there next to my friend.
“I don’t think anyone’s prepared in their life to lose a friend and a very close friend at such a young age. Sadly, it wasn’t the first very close friend that I lost. It was super, super tough to get over it.
“But following what happened in Spa, I think it also changed my vision of just approaching life in general and my relationship with the people that are important to me.
“Appreciating every single second that you get to spend with these close people. Because you never know never know when it’s going to be the last time.”
