Pierre Gasly sheds light on painful Red Bull F1 demotion

Pierre Gasly has shed light on the struggles he faced during his short-lived stint as Max Verstappen’s F1 teammate at Red Bull.

The Frenchman was picked by Red Bull as their replacement for the Renault-bound Daniel Ricciardo alongside Verstappen for the 2019 season.

But Gasly lasted just 12 races at the Red Bull senior team before he was ruthlessly demoted for underperforming, having scored just 63 points compared to the Dutchman’s 181.

Gasly returned to the then-named Toro Rosso sister team, with Alex Albon drafted in to Red Bull for the remainder of the 2019 campaign.

Having since revived his F1 career and moved to Alpine, Gasly has opened up on the difficulties he faced during his time at Red Bull, where he said he received “no support”.

"I'm not going to lie, it was sad," Gasly said during an interview with F1.com. "2019, my second year in Formula 1 – there was no support from anywhere, in a very big team which is very much supporting Max [Verstappen] – for good reasons, because he's put on the results.

"But I'm starting with a fresh engineer coming from Formula E who didn't have experience in F1. So it was a strange dynamic. I wasn't really given the tools to really perform. I tried to fight my own way because I wanted, and at the end of the day I'm there to perform.

“They were not happy, but I'm not happy too because I could see I couldn't show my potential. It almost felt like a relief.”

Asked what it felt like to return to Red Bull’s sister team for half a season, Gasly replied: "It's not a nice energy. I'm there to do my thing and try and give my best but it's a lot of negativity. I go through that. I just want to drive.”

Gasly would go on to claim his first F1 podium at the 2019 Brazilian Grand Prix, before scoring a stunning, redemptive maiden victory at the 2020 Italian Grand Prix.

The 29-year-old has gone on to cement himself as one of the strongest drivers in F1’s midfield, adding a further three podium finishes to his name.

2025 proved to be a terrible season for Alpine, who finished dead last in the constructors’ championship with the slowest car in the field.

Despite this, Gasly still managed to score 22 points - all of the team’s total from the year.