Tost: Gasly has fantastic potential, can still improve

Back in 2019, Pierre Gasly's Formula 1 career took a massive hit, as he was demoted from Red Bull to Toro Rosso midseason as he failed to perform at the level required by the team and was replaced by Alex Albon.

However, the Frenchman did not let that setback break him, as he put his head down and went on to deliver some memorable performances in the team that was re-branded as AlphaTauri, winning the team's home race, the 2020 Italian GP.

The 2021 F1 season saw Gasly deliver some pretty strong performance, especially in qualifying as he reached Q3 17 times in 22 races.

Speaking of Gasly's development, Franz Tost told Motorsport: "He has fantastic potential, but what's important is I have still the feeling he can improve.

"Because that's decisive if you're on this level and if we provide him next year with competitive car he will be there, 100%."

Tost explained that Gasly's performance has developed on all aspects as an F1 driver: "From the driving he has now the experience how to set-up the car, how to manage the tyres, he can read the race, which is very important, you can hear this on the radio the questions he is asking.

"He made this year another big step forward, a real big step forward. And once more if our car works, he will be there," Tost insisted.

The AlphaTauri boss admits that despite having a budget cost and new regulations in 2022, it would be a a tall order for Gasly and his team to fight with the front runners, with many factors involved. He said: "It depends which ingredients we get together.

"If the car works well, I don't see a reason why we shouldn't have success with it. But to talk about fighting for a championship...

"The infrastructure from our team is good, it's getting better and better, but if I compare it with Mercedes, with Red Bull Racing, with Ferrari, McLaren, then we are still steps behind.

"But this does not mean we cannot successfully from time-to-time fight against them," the Austria concluded.

Pierre Gasly finished the 2021 season ninth in the Drivers' Standings with 110 championship points, with a third position in Baku being his best result of the season.

AlphaTauri will reveal their 2022 F1 car, the AT03 on Valentine's day.