Over the years, Max Verstappen has gotten the better of his teammates more often than not. Daniel Ricciardo, Pierre Gasly, Alex Albon, and now Sergio Perez, have all failed to outperform the Dutchman for the most part. Helmut Marko, however, calls out one driver from the list – Gasly and it doesn’t have a lot to do with his driving.
Marko recalls how Gasly would refuse to concede defeat to Verstappen during his short Red Bull stint in 2019. “When he lapped in Budapest, he wanted a different suspension,” said Marko to GrandPrix 247 He’s not an engineer. He was just running out of excuses. And simply couldn’t accept the fact that Max is just the faster guy.”
Marko is referring to the 2019 Hungarian GP, where Verstappen finished P2. Gasly meanwhile, finished P6 but was so far behind his teammate that he was lapped during the race.
PIERRE GASLY PERFORMANCE
Quality H2H: 65.89% (85/129)
Race H2H: 53.01% (44/83)Qualy H2H:
2017: Gasly 0 – 2 Sainz
2017: Gasly 1 – 2 Hartley
2018: Gasly 15 – 6 Hartley
2019: Gasly 1 – 10 Verstappen
2019: Gasly 7 – 2 Kvyat
2020: Gasly 13 – 4 Kvyat
2021: Gasly 21 -… pic.twitter.com/ooFR6XzlAB— Holiness (@F1BigData) February 10, 2024
It was one of the many races in which Gasly struggled comprehensively, and for Red Bull that was it. In the very next round in Belgium, Gasly got demoted back to Toro Rosso whereas Alex Albon got the shout to be Verstappen’s new partner.
Albon didn’t fare too much better either and after leaving the Red Bull camp in 2022, the Thai-British driver revealed that Verstappen liked a “pointy” car, which for him (and presumably others) was impossible to control.
Gasly believed that he could beat Verstappen which led to him making mistakes. Marko’s comments suggest that had he accepted his inferiority, as current driver Sergio Perez has, he would have had a longer Red Bull career.
Gasly felt he was “better” than Verstappen
Gasly had a successful stint at Red Bull’s sister team Toro Rosso which was later named AlphaTauri (now V-CARB). 2020 in particular, was his highlight year as he won his first ever F1 race – the Italian GP.
That year, Gasly also claimed that he was better than Verstappen. “Objectively speaking, I am the better driver. More consistent, with more experience.”
Gasly added that he hoped to get better in 2021 and beyond. But his career never really took off at the Faenza-based outfit and he moved to Alpine in 2023.
Whether Gasly can challenge for wins and potentially the Championship like Verstappen, will only be seen when he drives a car capable of competing at the front. As of now, Alpine doesn’t present him with that opportunity.
