Verstappen and Gasly To Have Balanced Roles

Red Bull motor-sport’s adviser Dr Helmut Marko revealed that Max Verstappen and Pierre Gasly, both will be given equal opportunities to triumph at the 2019 races. Daniel Ricciardo‘s exit from Red Bull to Renault, was said to have fueled a shifting in the paradigm and favoritism towards Max Verstappen. However, Helmut Marko said that the Dutchman is not going to be given any kind of number one status.

Although Gasly will be given some time to settle down into life at Formula one, the team’s principal Christian Horner has already set the challenges down for the Frenchman to acquire a similar kind of niche with the team as is Verstappen’s level.

Verstappen has backed up on his victory in Mexico with a dominant performance in Brazil as well (of-course hindered by a collision with Esteban Ocon), as Red Bull ended the 2018 season on a high.  However, he will not have any assistance from Gasly, as Red Bull look to hit the ground up and running next year.

“Gasly comes as a youngster,” Marko revealed in an exclusive interview with Motorsport-Magazine. “So it’s very clear that he has to adhere to the rules of Red Bull Racing”, he said. “It’s easy: Max is much more familiar with the team. Gasly is free to race, he just needs to show performance. They are equal”, he added.

Verstappen has managed to finish on the podium in seven of the last nine races in 2018 and Marko hopes that it will give Red Bull a decent momentum to start the next season in winning ways.

“The second half of the season makes us extremely positive about the development of the chassis. Clearly we have the best”, said Marko. “Reliability on the Red Bull side has improved, even from Renault”, he said. “Especially has Max, since Paul Ricard made no mistakes since Paul Ricard.”