Carlos Sainz or Pierre Gasly? They both seem like perfectly legitimate options for the empty seat at Red Bull Racing but as we know, driver changes and Silly Season can spring a few surprises now and again. While folks are still arguing over Daniel Ricciardo’s state of mind in moving away from Red Bull to Renault for 2019, others are left pondering his replacement.
I’ve read/heard arguments for Gasly as the young upstart at Red Bull’s junior team, Toro Rosso, who is only four points behind Sainz in an inferior car on the balance of the 2018 season. Pundits and fans have contemplated many of the on-track performances and juxtaposed the two drivers against their current teammate competition.
All of that is to be taken into account but in the end, I suspect much bigger issues will determine the direction Red Bull take for the empty seat. Financial backing, what their master plan is for the driver in their program and just how well either option may fit with Max Verstappen.
On the balance, Sainz has more experience and granular knowledge of the Renault chassis and development direction. Gasly has more experience with the Honda engine program which Red Bull will use in 2019 and that could prove positive. Sainz has been a long-time member of the Red Bull program and he did have some tension with Verstappen when they were both at Toro Rosso, Gasly has no reference plane in which to measure his ability to race with Max.
Sainz could be attractive to other teams such as McLaren, Force India or Haas F1 and to be fair, so could Gasly but as Carlos is already on a long-leash loaner program, it may be easier for Red Bull to capitalize on a possible appointment at another team. The contractual narrative Carlos has signed regarding being loaned out—and all the rights within—have already been executed. Gasly’s lawyers/management may or may not make that a more difficult process.
There are various reasons Sainz or Gasly may be selected beyond just tallying up the races over the first half of the season and divining who you feel did a better job given the equipment they had and the teammate they competed against. Pontificating how you think Sainz fared against Gasly in a virtual world doesn’t take into account all the permutations involved in signing a driver and while performance is critical, both drivers are in the Red Bull program and both have different career trajectories and desires and contracts with the team.
The random nature of Silly Season could see neither of them in the empty seat, however unlikely you feel that may be, but you can’t discount the wide view of all talent that Red Bull’s Marko Helmut may be considering. Whomever they choose, it will be important that they work well as a teammate to the lead driver, Max Verstappen.
Considering that Gasly has about the same amount of experience as Max when they moved him up to RBR plus the knowledge from working with Honda day in and out will probably work in his favour. Plus he will be ok playing second fiddle to Max (for a while).
I think on paper he would be a good fit for Max but there’s a bit of a streak i’ve heard in him over the radio and I think there’s some room for some friction there as well as with Carlos but Carlos is a known entity and no 2nd year driver so that may be more volatile than Gasly initially any way. I think Gasly and Ocon are similar in some ways but Pierre seems to have a personality with more temper than Ocon. Ocon just smiles and pin you against the wall. ;) I like both drivers a… Read more »
Can anyone expand on the benefits of engine familiarity for a driver? I don’t doubt that it exists, but it’s hard for me to imagine/specify exactly how it helps from a team perspective?
I can wrap my mind more around how nearly every other aspect of the racing car is going to play into the overall feel and response of the car…but beyond the feel of getting the power down coming out of corners, I don’t know what the driver can contribute?
I expect it has a lot to do with PU drivability, as well as experience providing feedback to the Honda engineers.
But what does that mean in layman’s terms? I guess I just don’t get how the feedback could help? “I want the car to go faster when I push the loud pedal…” Again, I don’t doubt that there is more to it than that, I’m just hoping someone can explain it to me like I’m a five year old.
both drivers are fully capable of getting on top of a current F1 car regardless of engine but I think the relationship, feedback loop and unique characteristics of the Honda program and performance will be more in hand so to speak with Gasly than Carlos. Having said that, Carlos is a pro and it wouldn’t take long for him to get on top of another engine and the drivability it produces. In baseline terms, how the engine harvests, when and how drastic that harvesting is, how to run thin on fuel and the overall performance and what they call drivability… Read more »
Beautiful response – thank you! I forgot about harvesting, fuel flow, etc.
The latest word I saw was that Maxbastian Vettelstappen had said no to Sainz. Max is Wonderboy, he’s now the CLEAR Number One (Heaven help Red Bull) and obviously doesn’t want a competitive driver in the Number Two position.