On-song Gasly seeks 'reward' of Red Bull return, Marko says not yet

Pierre Gasly feels he should be "rewarded" for his string of fine drivers with a potential return to Red Bull.

Advisor Helmut Marko, however, has made clear the Frenchman "is not under consideration".

It was just over a year ago that Gasly suffered the sting of being demoted from Red Bull back to then Toro Rosso after failing to come close to the performances of team-mate Max Verstappen over the first half of the season.

Since then, Gasly has barely put a wheel out of place, culminating in him taking the opportunity that came his way in the Italian Grand Prix to grab his maiden win, the first for a Frenchman for 24 years, and end AlphaTauri's 12-year wait for a second victory.

While Gasly has previously made clear his goal remains a second bite of the cherry with Red Bull, the team is so far keeping faith with the Frenchman's replacement Alex Albon, despite the Thai-British driver enduring a difficult campaign.

Asked if a return to Red Bull was on the agenda for next season and whether he was ready, Gasly replied: "I think I’m ready but as I've said, it’s not up to me to make that call.

"The only thing I’ve done since they moved me back to Toro Rosso has been just to focus on myself and show what I can do.

"When I get the right tools in my hand I’m really happy that the performance we’ve shown – and I’m not only talking about Brazil but I think generally - we’ve been pretty strong most of the time. We’ve had some really strong qualifyings, really strong races since.

"We’ll see what happens but I think there have been many, many strong drivers in Toro Rosso. I’m really happy to be one of the two that have managed to get a win for this team.

"Obviously I guess the strong results should be rewarded with something but we will see what happens."

Marko, however, has ruled out such a prospect, believing Gasly to be in the right team and serving his purpose as leader of it.

Speaking to Sky Germany about a return to Red Bull, Marko said: "That is currently not a consideration.

"Gasly is one of our Red Bull drivers, he is currently with AlphaTauri and is doing a great job there. But we also need a team leader there."

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