In the wake of Red Bull’s decision to retain Daniil Kvyat and with it marginalise Pierre Gasly, who was earmarked for a seat with Toro Rosso in 2017, Formula 1 legend Alain Prost accuses young driver programmes of trapping up and coming talent.
Prost told Canal+, “The extension of [Kvyat’s] contract, despite some below par results, can be seen as a way to thank him for his services. We all believed Pierre would get his seat for next season.”
“Some of the youth programmes are a trap, and especially the Red Bull programme, a driver can get stuck in it. He has a contract, so he can’t just do what he wants.”
“However this is in keeping with Red Bull logic and tactics, whereby they are their own masters and the way they operate not always easy to understand. But of course, everything can change in a couple of months. You can never be too sure with them,” added Prost.
The Frenchman was clearly referring to the fact that in May this year, from out the blue, Red Bull demoted Kvyat to Toro Rosso and promoted Max Verstappen to the senior team. At that point it even appeared that Kvyat would be ditched from the squad before the season ended.
While under contract to Red Bull, Gasly is unlikely to be in a Renault cockpit next season unless his paymasters deem so. It is known that the French manufacturer is keen to have a French driver alongside Nico Hulkenberg should they not be able to secure the services of Valtteri Bottas.
“In Formula 1 there are only 22 cars on the grid and it’s you have to be in the right place at the right time to take advantage of a good opportunity when it arises. It’s not always that easy,” added Prost.
Highly rated Gasly made it clear that he was surprised by Red Bull’s decision not to promote him to Toro Rosso and instead keep the faith with Kvyat.
Gasly was expected to replace the Russian in the Red Bull junior team in 2017, but the energy drinks decision makers decided otherwise.
Nevertheless the team’s driver consultant Helmut Marko revealed that Gasly will be Red Bull reserve next year and told Canal+, “Pierre will be reserve driver for Red Bull, do testing when required and continue his work in the simulator.”
“We will decide the championship that he will participate in next season. The choice depends on the result of the current GP2 series,” added Marko.
Gasly lies second in the 2016 GP2 Championship with two rounds remaining in Abu Dhabi late next month. His options would be another season in GP2 or a move to Red Bull’s DTM programme.
Drivers who have graduated through Toro Rosso to Red Bull through the Junior Team, since its formation in 2001, include: Vitantonio Liuzzi, Christian Klien, Sebastian Vettel, Daniel Ricciardo, Daniil Kvyat and Max Verstappen.
With Vettel obviously the most successful graduate, but interestingly his junior career was funded by BMW with Red Bull coming into the picture late in the German’s career.
Similarly, little credit can be given to Red Bull during Verstappen’s karting years. They became involved with the Dutch prodigy in August 2014, by then he was well into the FIA European Formula 3 Championship with Van Amersfoort Racing.
Red Bull drivers who made it into Formula 1, but were discarded include: Scott Speed, Jaime Alguersuari, Sébastien Buemi and Jean-Éric Vergne. Interestingly none of these were able to find an alternative race seat on the F1 grid.
The Red Bull programme is also littered with numerous young drivers who, like Gasly, thought they were heading to Formula 1 only to have their dream shattered.
Those that jump to mind are the likes of: António Félix da Costa, Brendon Hartley, Robert Wickens, Alex Lynn, Daniel Juncadella, Stefano Coletti, Mirko Bortolotti, Michael Ammermüller and Filipe Albuquerque.
And though these bright and promising youngsters were knocking on the door for a seat with Red Bull/ Toro Rosso, none made it into Formula 1.
Read the full story at GRAND PRIX 247
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