Pierre Gasly, Toro Rosso, Interlagos, 2019

Gasly “drove brilliantly since he was downgraded” – Vettel

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In the round-up: Sebastian Vettel praises Pierre Gasly for raising his game since he lost his Red Bull drive.

What they say

Gasly’s second place on Sunday was the best result Toro Rosso have achieved since Vettel’s victory for them at Monza in 2008:

I’m happy for him. Obviously I don’t know the results, but I’m happy for him. I think he deserves it.

I think he drove brilliantly since he got downgraded. I don’t know what’s the plan in the future with him.

Quotes: Dieter Rencken

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Comment of the day

Sunday’s result raised the possibility Carlos Sainz Jnr could beat Alexander Albon and Pierre Gasly to sixth in the championship:

What an achievement that would be.

Sainz finished best of the rest last year in Abu Dhabi with Renault. Hulkenberg did it for Renault in 2016.

Am guessing there will be scrap between McLaren and Renault this year for the crucial seventh/eighth place finishes. Nevertheless, I think Albon needs to finish fourth and above to clinch the sixth place in the drivers’ championship if Sainz doesn’t score which i hope does not happen.
Nitzo (@Webtel)

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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28 comments on “Gasly “drove brilliantly since he was downgraded” – Vettel”

  1. re: Le Mans ’66. who else find’s it ironic that Ford claims dramatic licence with elements of the movie that are accurate?

  2. As soon as spotlight(pressure of RBR enviornment) was taken away from Gasly he seems to regained some of his confidence back.

    1. Every facet of the Red Bull is also completely built around Max. Horner has said himself it’s a much more difficult car to drive because of that post-race on Sky. RB are not-so-secretly running the most lopsided #1 driver policy on the grid…

      1. So what does Max want from the car? What is so different that Gasly could not perform? Albom is coping with it it seems.

  3. Decent of Vettel to say that about Gasly, but does Seb also see the inherent irony involved, given his performances in recent years? His friend and former teammate Kimi hasn’t been as stellar, but he’s also done solidly well for himself this year.

    Completely unironic, or a cry for help? :)

    1. Vettel drove poorly after upgraded to Ferrari!

    2. Yeah! Maybe Vettel needs to move to RedBull or some other place where there is less pressure.

    3. Ferrari have been anticipating this for so long that they even have 2 options to get Vettel “driving brilliantly”!

    4. I came just to comment “maybe that is what he needs”

      I see you have hinted at that alreadyl so I’m just here for the fireworks

    5. I don’t like him particularly but why do you hate him so much? Give him a break, I believe he is much nicer guy than you in real life.

      1. I’ve noticed it’s mostly a phenomenon on British websites, which, to be frank, have always disliked Vettel.

        1. Happens as well on Spanish websites/press. Vettel’s the guy that prevented the third WDC for Alonso (twice!)

      2. ^ – and so it begins, @johnmilk :)

        1. We can’t win them all @phylyp ahah

  4. Gasly “drove brilliantly since he was downgraded”

    Is Sebastian looking for a demotion to Sauber ??!!

    1. “Obviously”, as he would say. He can try to beat Raikkonen and gain his confidence back.

  5. Thanks for the COTD @keithcollantine

  6. Also, on this day in F1: Vettel’s anticipated move to Ferrari from Red Bull Racing became official on this day in 2014.

  7. Vettel should move to Torro Rosso to take Kvyats seat. I don’t see the point of having him as a driver at Ferrari. But given Ferrari has not exactly excelled in strategy for the last decade, they will probably let him linger too long

    1. Vettel should replace Bottas at Mercedes. So we can finally compare apples to apples.

      1. @vjanik why would Mercedes replace a solid number 2 who mostly keeps out of trouble (except the occasional wall) with a guy who crashes into other cars 5 times a season for 10x the salary?

      2. @vjanik Mercedes won’t ever do it, if not for sporting reasons, certainly for financial ones. Their outlay just on driver salaries would be in the 80m per year region, approximately 25% of their overall budget.

      3. Toto will never do that. Vettel has no future

        1. Fun thing is toto takes every chance to talk vettel up, why? Probably as that pushes his opponents to keep him?

  8. yes i agree it will never happen. for many reasons. but would be cool to see.

  9. I think both Vettel and Ricciardo would like to go back to Red Bull if Max left.
    Maybe Ferrari and RBR should do a straight swap. I’m not sure Leclerc would be too keen though.

    I cannot see Seb staying at Ferrari beyond the end of his current contract. Is that the end of 2020?

  10. Let’s see: 2 Ferraris + I RB + I merc all had to take themselves out before Gasly made the podium.
    That’s not to say he doesn’t deserve it, or that he hasn’t done well this year….

  11. Interesting how both Albon and Gasly have benefited from the swap. The Red Bull organisation was very smart in this case. This is a lesson that many companies need to learn.

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