Paul Jeffrey
Premium
Toro Rosso have confirmed Pierre Gasly will not contest the Austin F1 race, leaving the Italian squad in something of a quandary with one seat still to fill.
Following the deal that will take Carlos Sainz over to his new Renault squad starting in America, and the return of the previously “rested” Daniil Kvyat from the US race onwards, Toro Rosso now find themselves in the difficult position of having to fill the second seat at the team with very little notice ahead of the race on October 22nd.
Many expected Gasly and Red Bull to preference further Formula One experience over the Frenchman’s Super Formula title aspirations, however it now appears that both driver and primary backer Red Bull have decided to give the 21-year-old the opportunity to fight for his second consecutive open wheel championship, with the Team Mugen driver just 0.5 points behind championship leader Hiroaki Ishiura heading into the Suzuka round of the series. Should Gasly secure championship honours in Japan it will be the youngsters second consecutive title, following success in the GP2 (now Formula Two) series last season.
Confirmation that Gasly will indeed continue his Japanese adventure leaves Toro Rosso in a difficult position, with very few drivers of Grand Prix experience available to parachute into the Farenza squad. It is not thought that outgoing Renault driver Jolyon Palmer is in with a shout of filling in, as Toro Rosso are expected to prefer a young talent as they assess the final line up of drivers ahead of 2018.
The team remain unavailable for comment on the confirmation of Gasly’s return to Super Formula, or who may be selected to fill in for the talented Frenchman at the Circuit of the Americas later this month.
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