Tost believes that Gasly would have deserved Perez’s place at Red Bull
Franz Tost, who has retired and left his position as team principal at AlphaTauri, has explained that he would have preferred to see Pierre Gasly return to Red Bull, instead of the hiring of Sergio Perez.
Franz Tost has had Pierre Gasly under his command at AlphaTauri for four seasons, from 2019 to 2022. For him, the appointment of the Mexican driver is seen as a disapproval, especially since Gasly had just won his first Grand Prix with Racing Point.
« Mateschitz told me from the beginning that he cannot afford to have two teams fighting for the title. AlphaTauri’s role is solely to benefit from synergies with Red Bull Racing and coach the drivers, says Franz Tost.
Tost has never changed his way of doing things in Formula 1, training the young drivers in his team. The goal is to allow them to perform for AlphaTauri, but also to reach the heights in F1. For him, Gasly clearly had what it takes to be worthy of Red Bull, especially after being replaced once before in a rather quick manner, after 12 races in 2019.
« Training young people has always been clear to me. I have always been happy and satisfied when my drivers got a seat at Red Bull. However, I have had difficulty accepting that Red Bull chose Sergio Perez instead of Pierre Gasly, for example », he continues.
« I appreciated when they recruited our drivers because it means that the team has done a good job. It was good to see Red Bull’s drivers winning races and championships. I know that on our side, we do not have the necessary infrastructure to win races legitimately, » concludes Franz Tost.
