Gasly: Red Bull problems in all areas

Pierre Gasly concedes Red Bull’s current problems with its 2019 Formula 1 car are impacting “the whole package” but is hopeful of breakthroughs this weekend at the Chinese Grand Prix.

The Red Bull driver has struggled to find the sweet spot with the RB15 at the opening two rounds of his maiden year at the Milton Keynes-based squad which has resulted in poor performances leaving the French driver frustrated at the situation.

The team’s pre-season development plan was reportedly stalled by Gasly’s heavy crash towards the end of testing but the team remains optimistic it can recover any lost ground over the opening F1 rounds.

Pressed on what technical areas Red Bull are suffering in, Gasly pinpointed the key problem down to a lack of grip which is impacting its full package.

“I think it is general. A lack of grip but it is similar to everyone, it is not one clear area we need to improve but it is the whole package,” Gasly said. “With these new regulations there is quite a bit of work and we are learning every time we go out on track.

“It is good to have the Bahrain test as we learnt some good things there so hopefully we can prove it on track this weekend.”

While Gasly refused to rule out the issues also stretch into its new power unit partnership with Honda, the French driver has been impressed by the development gains the Japanese manufacturer has produced over the winter when comparing to his Toro Rosso-Honda experience last year.

“We can always get more performance out of the engine, especially as we saw that Ferrari is really strong in top speed and they still have some advantage over us,” he said.

“I think the gap compared to last year is a lot smaller, so this is what we look at. Also, the development gap definitely is smaller than last year.

“If they keep going like this we can catch them at some point so we are really happy with them.”