Pierre Gasly has “unfinished business” at Red Bull in F1

Pierre Gasly says he has “unfinished business” at the Red Bull Formula 1 team and believes he is now in a “much better position” to deliver on his potential.

The 24-year-old Frenchman was demoted by the Red Bull team just 12 races into what had been a difficult first season at the Milton Keynes outfit. Gasly returned to Toro Rosso for the remainder of the campaign, with Alex Albon going the other way to replace him at the senior squad.

Back in familiar surroundings at Toro Rosso, Gasly enjoyed a strong end to the year, which was capped off with his maiden F1 podium thanks to a brilliant second-place finish in Brazil. He has translated that form into 2020 and has been one of the standout performers of the season at the re-badged AlphaTauri team.

In the opening six rounds of the delayed season, Gasly has twice finished inside the top-seven and has made it into the Q3 on three occasions, something teammate Daniil Kvyat is yet to achieve.

Gasly’s form, coupled with a challenging start to the season for Albon alongside Max Verstappen, has led to suggestions he could earn a promotion back to Red Bull for 2021.

But speaking exclusively to Crash.net as part of an wide-ranging interview ahead of this weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps, Gasly insisted he is not entertaining such thoughts.

“I’m not really thinking about it,” Gasly explained.

“That’s what I want. I want to be in the fastest car but it’s not going to change anything whether I think about it or not. I just need to be fast and we will see what they [Red Bull] decide.”

Much like Albon, Gasly also struggled to match the level of Verstappen’s performances during his brief stint at Red Bull, particularly when it came to qualifying on Saturdays.

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Having rediscovered his confidence with a series of impressive displays at AlphaTauri over the past 12 months - including beating Albon to P7 at this year’s British Grand Prix - Gasly is confident he would be better-placed for a second bite of the cherry at Red Bull.

“I think now we are in a much better position because we know what didn’t work, so I don’t think we would make the same mistakes if we are to do it again,” he added.

“There is unfinished business with them - I think we both know it.”

Albon has been backed by both his team principal Christian Horner and Red Bull motorsport advisor Helmut Marko in recent weeks, but Gasly was given similar assurances last season before he was unceremoniously dropped.

When pressed on his desire to return to the very front of the grid, Gasly replied: “I think you said it yourself (smiles)... You know my target.

“I am someone who is competitive and I want the fastest car possible in my hands. Since I was in karting, I [have] always fought for championships and for victories and pole positions. That’s what I want to do in Formula 1 as well.

“That’s my target but it’s not up to me to make the call for Red Bull, so we will see what happens.”

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