Albon promoted to Red Bull as Gasly drops back to Toro Rosso

Alexander Albon has been rewarded for a string of encouraging races for Scuderia Toro Rosso this season with a promotion to Red Bull Racing as Pierre Gasly moves back the other way.

Albon, who was runner-up to George Russell in last season’s FIA Formula 2 championship, has scored 16 points for Toro Rosso this season whilst Gasly has struggled to emerge from the shadow of teammate Max Verstappen, scoring just 63 points to the Dutchman’s 181.

Such elevation and demotion between Red Bull and sister team Toro Rosso is nothing new, current driver Daniil Kvyat experiencing similar promotion and demotion during his rollercoaster career and Verstappen himself gaining promotion only five races into the 2016 season.

Indeed, Kvyat was considered by many to complete his renaissance with promotion back to Red Bull if Gasly was dropped after the Russian’s impressive podium drive in Hockenheim. But the Milton Keynes team has again decided to gamble on young talent over experience in the hope of building for the future.

“Red Bull are in the unique position of having four talented Formula 1 drivers under contract who can be rotated between Aston Martin Red Bull Racing and Toro Rosso,” read a Red Bull statement. “The team will use the next nine races to evaluate Alex’s performance in order to make an informed decision as to who will drive alongside Max in 2020.

“Everyone at Aston Martin Red Bull Racing looks forward to welcoming Alex to the Team and supporting him during the next phase of his F1 career.”

Fraser Masefield

Sports news and features writer, web editor and author.