According to Red Bull advisor Dr. Helmut Marko, the driver lineup for AlphaTauri in 2023 will remain unchanged.
This is the second year that Pierre Gasly and Yuki Tsunoda have been teamed together in Red Bull’s sister squad, AlphaTauri. However, with Gasly having competed for the team for numerous years, questions have been raised over both drivers’ futures with the team.
Gasly was promoted to Red Bull in 2019, but was dropped midway through the season due to a string of poor results after a full season with his current team which was previously known as Toro Rosso in 2018.
The Frenchman will not be able to return to Red Bull in the foreseeable future, as the team confirmed last week that Sergio Perez’s contract had been extended until the conclusion of the 2024 season.
“On Friday prior to the practice sessions in Monaco, we signed the contract, so Checo could further concentrate on the race weekend,” Marko told Formel1.de.
“If you look at Red Bull’s history, there is one particular characteristic that sets us apart: our continuity and planning ahead. So we wanted to be clear about the next few years.”
“Before Perez signed his contract, of course I spoke to Gasly,” Marko added. “We have to see what happens after 2023. What is the alternative for him? I don’t think at the moment there is an alternative that would be significantly better than AlphaTauri.”
Tsunoda who is Gasly’s teammate at AlphaTauri is the most recent Red Bull junior to join F1, with numerous others waiting in the wings, including Liam Lawson, Juri Vips, and Jehan Daruvala. Marko, on the other hand, believes that none of the current juniors will be in Formula One in 2023.
“We can probably assume that the current drivers [Gasly and Tsunoda] will remain in their places,” Marko said. “However, coronavirus is still present, so it could be that the youngsters will have to step in.”
“Of course I hope no one gets injured, but they will have to keep waiting for another year.”
