“Red Bull Tailor Made for Max Verstappen” : Pierre Gasly on Why the Pairing Works

AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly believes the environment at Red Bull caters towards Max Verstappen and his preferences rather than the team en masse. Gasly spent the first half of 2019 as Verstappen’s teammate before Red Bull unceremoniously demoted him to Torro Rosso. Gasly’s revelation isn’t far from the truth as it’s no surprise that Red Bull prioritizes Max.

Red Bull environment geared towards Max Verstappen

If we put the stats and records aside, Max Verstappen is easily one of the best drivers in F1 today. He’s been unstoppable ever since his major turnaround at the Canadian Grand Prix last year. Given the right car, the Dutchman will have no problems winning a World Championship.

Therefore, it’s not surprising to see Red Bull favor Max. He’s their best chance at World Championship glory in over 6 years. Red Bull even went to great lengths by offering the Dutchman a long-term contract until 2023. Verstappen is the de facto number 1 at Red Bull and will continue to be until he walks away from the team or starts performing poorly.

Gasly spent six agonizing months at Red Bull before ultimately being demoted. During his time, the media constantly compared his performances to Verstappen and often highlighted Pierre’s poor showing. However, it was apparent that the conditions at Red Bull were far from comfortable for Gasly.

However, once Gasly started Racing for his old team again, he achieved some commendable results. Gasly’s sudden change does raise questions on Red Bull’s environment.

Speaking to Austosprint, Gasly said:

“If I went back to Red Bull, I would have learned a lot in the meantime.

“At least this season, I’m only interested in racing for Alpha Tauri. All of my energy is into that now. I want to stay in Formula 1 at all costs.”

“Every driver would like to have a team that is tailor-made like Red Bull is to him.

“Everyone needs that help – your performance does not depend solely on yourself and all team members have to give everything for that.”

It would be wrong to criticize Red Bull for cozying up to Max as the Dutchman has the desire and grit which the team needs. Red Bull wants to win and Max Verstappen is the right man to bring home the silverware.