Pierre Gasly has expressed his frustration with the lack of “recognition and reward” from Red Bull in his Formula 1 career.
Gasly couldn’t impress Red Bull enough in 2019 for the team to hold onto the Frenchman who was demoted to Toro Rosso.
However, the 25-year-old has shown a number of encouraging performances since the team was renamed AlphaTauri, but won at Monza in 2020 and has maintained a consistent level of solid performances this season in particular.
It was therefore believed that Gasly would have a chance to return to his former teammate and new World Champion Max Verstappen at Red Bull next year, but Sergio Perez has been taken over by the team instead.
Gasly told Auto Motor und Sport: “My desire, my will to fight for the world championship is very strong.
“I’m in Formula 1 to fight at the top. That motivates me to keep improving.
“I’m not going to lie, it’s hard to have a season like this. And when I then compare myself with those who got the chance of a Red Bull spot, that’s disappointing. Based on the numbers and results, I’ve performed better than anyone on the team.
“But at the end of the day I don’t get the recognition and reward for that. It’s hard to swallow. Of course, that disappoints me.
“I know what I want to achieve in this sport. I want to fight at the top. That hasn’t changed.
“It won’t be there next year, but that doesn’t mean if it isn’t there in 2022, it won’t happen in 2023. I keep going full throttle and believe in myself.
“I hope the AlphaTauri will be as good as this season despite the change in the regulations.”
Verstappen won the Drivers’ Championship for Red Bull in a controversial final lap of the season in December, overtaking Lewis Hamilton to win the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Teammate Perez played a key role in slowing defending champion Hamilton in points in the race and ultimately contributed to Verstappen’s shooting win over the Mercedes driver after a late appearance from a safety car.
