Prema Powerteam team principal René Rosin is confident 2016 GP2 Series winner Pierre Gasly, who drove for him in Formula One’s official feeder series this year, is ’totally ready’ to graduate to grand prix racing.
The Frenchman has been Red Bull’s reserve driver for over a year but he was overlooked for a Toro Rosso promotion when the Faenza-based outfit decided to re-sign Daniil Kvyat despite a season of struggles for the Russian.
Gasly’s title-winning campaign might have been a slow burner, the 20-year-old was still given several days of testing at Red Bull where team principal Christian Horner believes F1 to be ‘very much’ part of his future.
Rosin also thinks Gasly has what it takes to join his fellow Normandy-born racer Esteban Ocon on the grid.
“For me, he's totally ready for Formula 1,” Rosin told Motorsport.com. “He deserves a seat in Formula 1, unfortunately of course Red Bull announced for Toro Rosso Kvyat and Sainz.
“[He should] continue pushing like he's doing. If he has a chance to get a drive somewhere else, [he should] get it, to keep him in training, and try to convince the people at Red Bull.
“He's capable of doing it, he's a real team player, somebody who is really working hard inside the team to build up everything, and he's done this season an amazing job.”
Gasly has been tipped to compete in Super Formula in 2017. He would thus follow into the foosteps of 2015 GP2 champion Stoffel Vandoorne, who was signed to a full-time McLaren-Honda seat after further honing his skills in the Japan-based series.
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