Horner impressed by how Gasly 'embraced' Toro Rosso return

Red Bull Formula 1 chief Christian Horner has praised Pierre Gasly’s attitude following his return to Toro Rosso midway through the 2019 season, believing the Frenchman has rediscovered his confidence.

Gasly scored the first F1 podium of his career at the Brazilian Grand Prix last Sunday, claiming a surprise second-place finish for Toro Rosso.

The result came following a difficult period that had seen Gasly lose his Red Bull seat following the Hungarian Grand Prix, returning to Toro Rosso with Alexander Albon moving in the opposite direction.

Gasly has scored points in five of his eight appearances for Toro Rosso, with Horner believing he has benefitted from the reduced level of pressure at Red Bull’s sister team.

“I think he’s doing a very good job,” Horner said.

“I think removing him from the pressured environment here and putting him back into the slightly-less pressured environment at Toro Rosso, perhaps in a car that is slightly easier to drive - his confidence has been recovering and recovering.

“He’s put in some great performances and that’s why we took up the option on him again for 2020.

“It’s great to see him get his first podium, so it’s a fantastic day for Red Bull. Hopefully that confidence will only continue to grow.”

Horner said he was impressed by how Gasly had taken the demotion in his stride to turn in some improved performances on-track.

“He had two choices: he could either get depressed about it, or be grateful for the fact he was still involved in F1 and Red Bull still believed in him,” Horner said.

“I think he embraced it rather than got dejected by it. I think there was almost a slight relief as well, because the pressure only mounts.

“He came into the season after two crashes and there were some really tough races for him. I think it was the right thing to remove him from that pressure.

“It’s been good to see him really find his confidence at Toro Rosso.”

Additional reporting by Julianne Cerasoli.