There’s been plenty of times that I’ve been critical of Red Bull’s approach to drivers, and there have been multiple occasions where Marko has been a little too quick to open his mouth before thinking about how what he’s saying could be taken – most recently with some comments about Sergio Perez’s heritage that he quickly learned were not acceptable. But one thing that is refreshing about the Red Bull advisor is that if you ask him a question, he’ll give you a straight answer.
Quite often that answer might be that he doesn’t want to talk about it and he’ll walk off, but on Sunday in Zandvoort, he was more than happy to confirm the plans for Colton Herta.
“Astonishingly enough, all of the parties and teams involved, we found an agreement,” Marko told me while I was on air with SpeedCity Broadcasting on SiriusXM.
Should Gasly be confirmed then the circle – OK, triangle – could be completed by Piastri being released to McLaren early. He already performs reserve driver duties for both McLaren and Alpine and could continue in that role if necessary, but would be able to prepare for 2023 more effectively and carry out some potential FP1 running as a rookie for his new team.
Compensation might be required, but then that would be attractive to Alpine if it has paid Red Bull for Gasly, and that would be attractive to Red Bull if it has paid McLaren for Herta, who in turn would be paying for Piastri. So maybe very little would actually change hands after all…
You can now see why Marko used the term “astonishingly enough”, because a lot of dominos still have to fall and some might be more stubborn than others. But it’ll all stem from whether the FIA kickstarts the effect by approving a Super License, or if they all stay standing.
