Toro Rosso hails ‘fantastic’ Gasly, expects step forward in Japan

Toro Rosso team principal Franz Tost has described Pierre Gasly’s debut Formula 1 Grand Prix as ‘fantastic’ and expects a further improvement next weekend at the Japanese race, confirming the French driver will remain as Daniil Kvyat’s replacement for another round.

Gasly was called up to replace Kvyat at Toro Rosso for the Malaysia GP after a run of poor form by the Russian driver which ended in a crash in Singapore. Toro Rosso said the French driver would step up for Kvyat for ‘the next Grands Prix’ without specifying the exact races but after being impressed by his performance Tost has confirmed Gasly will race in Japan.

“Pierre did a fantastic job today – this was his first weekend with the team and he performed very well,” Tost said. “I’m looking forward to seeing him race again in Suzuka because it’s a race track he knows from the Japanese Super Formula championship.

“We now have to analyse why we lost performance here in Sepang in comparison to other circuits, but I’m convinced that we will come up with a proper solution and will perform better in Suzuka.”

Gasly has spent the season racing in Japan’s Super Formula series and is a doubt for the F1 round after Suzuka as the United States Grand Prix clashes with the Super Formula season finale. Gasly is just half a point off of the Super Formula championship lead heading into the double-header final round.

During the Malaysia GP race weekend Gasly said he was willing to miss the Super Formula finale in order to keep his F1 dream alive, but Toro Rosso is yet to officially confirm if the 2016 GP2 Series champion will race at the Circuit of the Americas instead of Kvyat.