F1: Gasly 'ready to leave Red Bull' after 2023

(GMM) Pierre Gasly says he isn’t surprised that Red Bull signed to keep Sergio Perez as the “second driver” next to world champion Max Verstappen.

The 26-year-old Frenchman has been pushing hard to get a second chance at Red Bull’s main team, but the new two-year deal for Perez now overlaps with the end of Gasly’s contract which only runs to the end of 2023.

“Their intention is quite clear – they want to keep me,” Gasly said at Baku.

“I have nothing to add to what has been said so far. These are discussions that are underway where we try to see what everyone’s desires are.

“I feel ready to move on to a higher stage, but when there are more concrete things there will be more to say.”

Gasly insists he was not caught out by the Perez announcement after Monaco, where the 32-year-old Mexican won.

“I already knew that for a while,” he revealed. “It’s also the logic of things – I’m not an idiot.

“In relation to his profile, his performance, the money he brings. If you look at what the second driver has to provide, he’s doing that.

“He is having a good season, so for them, it makes sense to keep going like this.

“In relationship to my career, my ambitions, my desires, that’s another question,” Gasly added.

Gasly will not be offered a Red Bull seat again because of how well Perez is doing. Race winner Sergio Perez of Mexico and Oracle Red Bull Racing celebrates on the podium during the F1 Grand Prix of Monaco at Circuit de Monaco on May 29, 2022 in Monte-Carlo, Monaco. (Photo by Eric Alonso/Getty Images)

Gasly, who drives for Alpha Tauri, has been linked with a departure from the Red Bull camp altogether, and been tentatively linked with McLaren, Aston Martin and Alpine.

“We are discussing my future with Helmut Marko,” he said. “We must understand what is best for all of us. We have a very good relationship – they’ve known me since childhood.

“On the one hand, I understand the position of the team. But that doesn’t mean that everything should remain as it is with me. I think in the end we will find some solution.

“My contract is valid until 2023 and after that I am ready to consider any options. With the support of Red Bull, I’m ready to drive in another team, as Alex Albon is now in Williams.

“I’m ready to leave the Red Bull program, but I don’t want to go into details. I don’t want to make headlines,” he said.