Marko reveals star’s MISTAKE with ‘difficult’ Red Bull team-mate

Red Bull boss Helmut Marko has revealed what he believes the key failing was that led to Pierre Gasly's struggles as Max Verstappen's team-mate.

Gasly moved from the junior team - then called Toro Rosso - to Red Bull in 2019 to replace Daniel Ricciardo.

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The Frenchman lasted just 12 races before being ousted for Alex Albon over the summer break, having scored no podiums and only two top five finishes. Team-mate Max Verstappen did not finish outside of the top five until after the season's intermission.

Albon also could not perform to a level good enough to secure a long-term seat, and was swiftly replaced by Sergio Perez for 2021.

READ MORE: Red Bull hopeful ‘underwhelms’ amid Perez troubles

Why did star fail at Red Bull?

Now, the difficulties of the second Red Bull seat are affecting Perez, who has endured a torrid time of late in 2024.

The Mexican has averaged just over half of Verstappen's points each season, but his distance from the champion has become a serious threat to Red Bull's constructors' championship ambitions as rivals close in.

Marko is also the head of Red Bull's driver programme, meaning he is constantly weighing up replacements by overseeing dozens of pretenders to Verstappen's crown.

“First of all, I’m not looking for a new Max because Max is unique," Marko said to grandprix247.com.

"And it will be difficult for anyone to be his teammate" he added.

With Perez's future uncertain, Marko will be hoping one of his youngsters can eventually fill in, though this season may come too soon.

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"[Arvid] Lindblad is only 16 years old. So it’s difficult to say but you saw the race at Silverstone, the [F3] Feature Race where he had enormous pressure from Mini [who is] in his second year and two years older with far more experience. He held him off and in the end, Mini cooked his tyres trying to catch him.

“For his age, he’s very mature and a lot of confidence like Liam Lawson. It might be the best thing to give them first a year at VCARB and then move up to Red Bull Racing.

"But they have, of course, to get more ready and they can’t go straight away and say we will beat Max," he added. "That was a mistake, for example, Pierre Gasly thought he was as good as Max."

Gasly came into Red Bull off the back of a strong season at Toro Rosso, and would have hoped to emulate Verstappen's stellar start to life at Red Bull.

However, the reality of being partnered with the Dutchman soon set in and Gasly struggled to get to grips with the car, in Marko's mind partly down to overconfidence.

Perez now faces a similar fate as Gasly should he not improve over the rest of the season, or even before the summer break.

The 34-year-old will get the chance to prove he's still got it next weekend at the Hungaroring for the 13th round of the 2024 season.

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