Albon to replace Gasly at Red Bull

[N4D13]

Yeah, what it says on the tin. A bit of a surprise, but not a massive one and very consistent with Red Bull's policy of taking a chance on young unproven guns.

[Tazio]

bye!:wave:

[N. Jones]

I get it but I doubt Albon is going to put the car much closer to Max than Gasly could.

[Tazio]

I get it but I doubt Albon is going to put the car much closer to Max than Gasly could.
Nor do I. :dork:

[truefan72]

Marko is too proud of a guy to rightfully place kyvatt back in the rbr seat.
Can't wait for kyvatt to leave that organization and join another team.
If vettel retires, he would be first in line for that ferrari seat.
As for Gasly, he should have been given the entire year.
But i i bet you he will struggle back at STR just ,like kyvatt did
Albon has a lot of pressure on him now and it will be interesting to see what happens.

Red bull are a joke of an organization when it comes to their drivers, their driver program and driver treatment.
Reminds me of williams in the 90's.

we shall see

[Mia 01]

Red bull is a one drivers team, no doubt. Marko whine about Gasly but they are themself to blame to the bigger part. Get rid of Marko, this will improve the whole team.

[The Black Knight]

Red bull is a one drivers team, no doubt. Marko whine about Gasly but they are themself to blame to the bigger part. Get rid of Marko, this will improve the whole team.

For once I agree with you. Although, unlike with Kvyat, I fully understand why they dropped Gasly.

[The Black Knight]

Marko is too proud of a guy to rightfully place kyvatt back in the rbr seat.
Can't wait for kyvatt to leave that organization and join another team.
If vettel retires, he would be first in line for that ferrari seat.
As for Gasly, he should have been given the entire year.
But i i bet you he will struggle back at STR just ,like kyvatt did
Albon has a lot of pressure on him now and it will be interesting to see what happens.

Red bull are a joke of an organization when it comes to their drivers, their driver program and driver treatment.
Reminds me of williams in the 90's.

we shall see

Well he’d be higher on the list than no podium Hulkenberg anyway, that’s for sure.

I think Albon will do well at RBR though. The boy has got skills.

[Nitrodaze]

Tbh, l was not surprised to hear Gasly got the boots to the Torro Rosso team. He had his chance and failed to grasp it with both hands. I am surprised though that they went with Albon and not Kyvat who seems to have raised his game. That said, Albon has given Kyvat a good run for his money, but Kyvat's experience has placed him ahead in the points.

Albon has displayed the sort of hunger and aggression that would suggest that he may fair better than Gasly in the RBR car. But he goes into the Redbull car under some inherent pressure to perform in a car he has not had the opportunity to drive previously. I suspect the Torro Rosso would be considerably different from the Redbull, hence he would need to learn the RBR fast to ensure he survives in the Redbull programme.

His initial target would be to match Gasly as quickly as possible and build from there. His chances of surviving beyond 2019 would depend on how close he could get to Verstapenn and how quickly he can do so.

The problem for Albon is that, if he fails to meet expectation, his Redbull career may well come to an end in 2020. He might not be able to return to Torro Rosso. The real question is, can he get on top of those aspect of the Redbull that has given Gasly such problems? If so, is he quick enough to get within 0.3sec of Verstapenn before the end of the season?

I have a feeling that he may surprise many and put his car close enough to Verstapenn to justify his promotion. Albon reminds me of Ricciado in a sense. He is a great overtaker and very exciting to watch. I can't wait to see what he does with the Aston Martin - Redull.

[Mia 01]

In my opinion Max flatter the car, Gasly has not htat ability and I suspect Albon to fail also. It´s the same case as in Alfa Romeo.

[airshifter]

In my opinion Max flatter the car, Gasly has not htat ability and I suspect Albon to fail also. It´s the same case as in Alfa Romeo.

Similar to you, I'm not sure what to expect from Albon. Though it would be hard for anyone to get close to Max currently, maybe the more logical choice would be to put Kimi in the RB!

[Nitrodaze]

Similar to you, I'm not sure what to expect from Albon. Though it would be hard for anyone to get close to Max currently, maybe the more logical choice would be to put Kimi in the RB!

Bottas or Alonso would make better sense. But l would give Albon the benefit of the doubt. That said, Verstapenn is a class act in the Redbull.

[Bagwan]

I've read that Gasly was experiencing some friction with his engineers , and it looks like Albon is almost always smiling , and taking orders dutifully , so it's not too surprising in the end .
Harmony , when they clearly have a number one in Max , could be crucial , and perhaps it wasn't there with Pierre .

[Mia 01]

Guys with bent knees and a big smile have it easy in Life.

[Nitrodaze]

Guys with bent knees and a big smile have it easy in Life.

They are also not world championship title winners and never would be. The winners are difficult and miserable when things are not working for them. You are very unlikely to find any F1 world champion that bent their knees and smiled their way to winning a F1 title. The world champion types are quirky, stubborn and fiercely competitive.

[Nitrodaze]

I've read that Gasly was experiencing some friction with his engineers , and it looks like Albon is almost always smiling , and taking orders dutifully , so it's not too surprising in the end .
Harmony , when they clearly have a number one in Max , could be crucial , and perhaps it wasn't there with Pierre .

That is understandable, he was not getting the car he feels he needs to get to the front of the grid. It is also a testament of how good Verstapenn is. Remember, he got the Ricciado side of the garage as would Albon, bless him.

[Nitrodaze]

I really do not think Gasly is crap, far from it. I think he is a world championship winning material in the right team with the right car. Redbull might not be the right environment for him to realize his full F1 potential. If l were him, l would cut loose like Sainz did and find a new path. If Kyvat is anything to go by, he is probably unlikely to get a second chance with Redbull in the future.

[zako85]

I think he is a world championship winning material in the right team with the right car.

Forget Verstappen. If the guy is a WDC material, he should have done a better job at staying ahead of those McLarens and Renaults in some races.

[Nitrodaze]

Forget Verstappen. If the guy is a WDC material, he should have done a better job at staying ahead of those McLarens and Renaults in some races.

I hear there has been friction between him and his engineers. In such a situation which is inherently hostile, l doubt he was getting the best from his engineers, hence, it was unlikely that he was driving with the same optimum setup as Verstapenn was enjoying. It is easy to criticize the guy, but you do not know what factors are involved in preventing him from reaching his full potential.

For a start, he had the crappy side of the garage as we noticed with Ricciado. Then, he was given a trainee or newly promoted engineer. I can see how frustrated he must have felt with all the pressure to perform on his shoulders. I worry for Albon, as he needs to perform under similar short comings and very clearly from the outset going to underperform as he would not enjoy the same level of service as Verstapenn would enjoy. But he; at least has the chance to do a better job of building a good relationship with his new engineers and see if he can extract a better service than Gasly was able to extract. If Albon can do that, he would outperform Gastly. But l doubt he would come anywhere near being able to challenge Verstapenn. It would be a pleasant surprise if he could under these circumstances pull a coup or level on performances.

[The Black Knight]

I really do not think Gasly is crap, far from it. I think he is a world championship winning material in the right team with the right car. Redbull might not be the right environment for him to realize his full F1 potential. If l were him, l would cut loose like Sainz did and find a new path. If Kyvat is anything to go by, he is probably unlikely to get a second chance with Redbull in the future.

No, he’s not. And I think that’s why RBR didn’t promote him into Toro Rosso straight away in 2017. He could have easily been in F1 earlier but RBR chose to stick with Kvyat before eventually replacing him with Pierre.

[Nitrodaze]

No, he’s not. And I think that’s why RBR didn’t promote him into Toro Rosso straight away in 2017. He could have easily been in F1 earlier but RBR chose to stick with Kvyat before eventually replacing him with Pierre.

Yea, if the point of making the change was to take the fight to Ferrari, on paper, Kyvat would have made more sense. He has more points in the Torro Rosso and has put the car on the podium. I think Albon is being burnt.

[The Black Knight]

Yea, if the point of making the change was to take the fight to Ferrari, on paper, Kyvat would have made more sense. He has more points in the Torro Rosso and has put the car on the podium. I think Albon is being burnt.

I think pride has a lot to do with it. The replacement of Kvyat in 2016 was lunacy promoting Max at that time. Kvyat, while not out qualifying Danny regularly, was just after a podium and leading Ricciardo in the points. Imagine if Kvyat were to go to RBR, I can imagine him being massively motivated to beat Max. If he was even within 2/3 tenths of a second of Max after a race or two, it’d make Helmut Marko look stupider than he has always looked in general.

So really, to fight Ferrari Kvyat would have been the perfect choice but boy would their faces have been red were Kvyat to beat him and, to be frank, with the right teammate I think Max is a very beatable driver. The switch was about saving face and evaluating Albon for next year. I don’t think they truly genuiney care about the Ferrari fight.

[Nitrodaze]

I think pride has a lot to do with it. The replacement of Kvyat in 2016 was lunacy promoting Max at that time. Kvyat, while not out qualifying Danny regularly, was just after a podium and leading Ricciardo in the points. Imagine if Kvyat were to go to RBR, I can imagine him being massively motivated to beat Max. If he was even within 2/3 tenths of a second of Max after a race or two, it’d make Helmut Marko look stupider than he has always looked in general.

So really, to fight Ferrari Kvyat would have been the perfect choice but boy would their faces have been red were Kvyat to beat him and, to be frank, with the right teammate I think Max is a very beatable driver. The switch was about saving face and evaluating Albon for next year. I don’t think they truly genuiney care about the Ferrari fight.

There is probably the case that Kyvat is a Ferrari driver now. He is not really in the Redbull programme anymore l think. I am not sure he has given up his reserve driver status with Ferrari either.