Gasly: Honda compromises will help next season

Pierre Gasly hopes compromises Honda opted for in 2018 will provide greater opportunities and performance for the coming Formula 1 season as he steps up to Red Bull in its maiden year in partnership with the Japanese manufacturer.

The French driver has a full year of experience with Honda’s Formula 1 power units to lean upon as he moves up to the Red Bull squad from Toro Rosso as replacement for the Renault-bound Daniel Ricciardo.

With Red Bull gearing up for its maiden F1 season with Honda, Gasly feels development work and engine strategy which may have hurt his 2018 campaign at Toro Rosso will have better long-term effects for all parties.

“It might compromise it in a good way with more performance, so this is not a bad thing,” Gasly said in Abu Dhabi. “For sure this season [2018] we maybe could have had a couple more opportunities to take, without the penalties we took, but we looked at the big picture.

“As I’ve said before there is more to gain from this kind of testing for next year as next year we’ll have much better and higher targets with Red Bull.

“If it can give us the possibility of fighting for podiums or wins than that clearly we are trying things to help with Toro Rosso. It is not ideal for us but it is better in the short term.”

While Gasly retains Honda power units for 2019 he will be getting used to a new environment as a Red Bull driver, but did act as the team’s test and reserve driver between 2015-2017, and is relishing the fresh opportunity.

“It is going to be quite different but it will be good to see how they work and to get the relationship with the engineers inside the team as it is different,” he said. “A different way of working but also the British people mainly compared to the Italian people working here.

“It is going to be a different philosophy and the more I can work with the team the earlier it is the better for me next season.”