Gasly unsure he’s in ‘strong position’ in driver market

AlphaTauri driver Pierre Gasly speaking to Daniel Ricciardo during the driver parade. Monaco May 2022
Although highly-rated by many pundits, Pierre Gasly says he doesn’t know if that puts him a “strong position” in F1’s driver market.
Gasly’s dream of being handed a second opportunity at Red Bull was dashed last week when the Milton Keynes squad announced Sergio Perez had signed a new two-year deal.
That contract opens the door for Gasly to begin speaking with other teams as, while he has a deal in place for 2023, Red Bull do not have an option on him after that.
Already the Frenchman has been linked to Daniel Ricciardo’s McLaren race seat while Aston Martin could also be a possibility.
And then of course there is Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes seat which could be available come 2024, although the Briton says at least for now he’s not ready to hang up his helmet.
Gasly’s chance of securing a top drive have been bolstered in recent years as he bounced back from his Red Bull demotion with a podium finish in each year back with AlphaTauri.
His 2020 podium was thanks to his victory at the Italian Grand Prix, the driver becoming only the second man after Sebastian Vettel to win with the Faenza-based team.
He continues to catch the attention of F1 pundits with Felipe Massa saying he deserves a top drive while F1 journalist Tom Clarkson has urged him to seek pastures new.
Pierre Gasly has been told to 'do a Carlos Sainz' and leave the Red Bull family for McLaren if the opportunity arises. #F1https://t.co/d9wVCsmY7Y
— PlanetF1 (@Planet_F1) June 9, 2022
But while the praise is appreciated, Gasly says he doesn’t know where he ultimate stands in the driver market but he’s open to exploring his options.
“I don’t know if you can call that a strong position,” he told Motorsport.com, “but at the moment, for sure, beyond 2023, I consider all options, as I don’t have anything beyond that.
“So for now, it’s, we’ll see.
“These are things we need to discuss with Helmut [Marko]. Obviously they want to keep me, and they want to keep me in the program.
“But as I say, we need to see how to make this work, and just normal conversations are ongoing.”
Although Gasly is already being linked to McLaren, who are ahead of AlphaTauri in this year’s Constructors’ Championship and beat them last season, Marko believed Red Bull’s junior team remains the driver’s best option for the future.
He told formel1.de: “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.”