Gasly: Too early to think about F1 future options

After his demotion from Red Bull to Toro Rosso - now AlphaTauri - halfway through 2019, Gasly regained his confidence and started growing into the role of team leader in Faenza.

But while he was hoping to have done enough to earn a second chance at Red Bull's main team, Red Bull instead enlisted Sergio Perez in 2021 when Gasly's successor Alex Albon was also cast aside.

In May this year the Milton Keynes squad handed Perez a two-year contract extension, taking the Mexican's deal to the end of the 2024 season alongside Max Verstappen.

That means the path to a Red Bull return is now formally closed off for Gasly, and while the Frenchman relished the opportunity to have his future in his own hands, without obligations to Red Bull beyond 2023, he said it is too early to start mulling over his next move.

"I think you've got to be open. There's got to be a conversation, obviously with Red Bull, and they'll be the first ones to know what's the situation," he told Motorsport.com.

"But of course, it's also the first time in my career that I actually get the options of deciding what's going to happen.

"It's still early, we're still mid-2022. At the right moment, we'll assess what are the best options for the future."

Becoming a consistent midfield contender with AlphaTauri alongside his inexperienced teammate Yuki Tsunoda, Gasly's points haul of 110 out of 142 was instrumental in the team securing sixth in the 2021 constructors' standings after a season-long fight for fifth with Alpine.

Pierre Gasly, AlphaTauri AT03

Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool

Gasly feels he has taken on the role of a team leader well and thinks his second stint at Faenza has also made him a better all-round driver, which would enable him to try and secure a move up the grid when his AlphaTauri deal ends in 2023.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm way more complete," the 26-year-old explained. "I think it's a sport where, personally, I feel way more complete than I was when I arrived in the sport, because it's a complex sport.

"It's not only about driving. It's about driving the team in the direction you want, it's about getting the people working together towards the same goal, motivating everyone because it's tough.

"You see people mentally are drained after a couple of races from all the travelling, all the work they are doing.

"Being a leader, it's not only about driving and being fast on the race track. It's about leading the team and bringing that energy, the mentality and the work ethic that you set to yourself to the rest of your crew to extract the best of the package that you've got. That's what I'm trying to do.

"At the end of the day, the difference is I want to be in a place that can give me the opportunity to be competitive.

"That's really what is most important for me, to have a package that will allow me to display my skills and fight for the top, because that's my only motivation in this sport, is to fight for the win, for the podiums, and be at the front of the grid."