Pierre Gasly admitted he was ‘angry’ and ‘disappointed’ to be overlooked for a drive with Scuderia Toro Rosso in 2017 in favour of Daniil Kvyat, feeling he had done enough at the time to graduate into Formula 1.
The Frenchman instead turned his attention to Super Formula in Japan and came so close to the championship, and was handed his Grand Prix debut in the Malaysian Grand Prix when Kvyat was finally relieved of his duties following a disappointing campaign.
Gasly had won the 2016 GP2 Series title, and finished just half a point shy of adding the Super Formula title to his resume thanks to a typhoon calling off the final round of the season at the Suzuka International Racing Course, and will race full time for the team, now known as Red Bull Toro Rosso Honda, in 2018 alongside Brendon Hartley.
However, Gasly feels the decision to overlook him at the start of 2017 was not fair, but all good things come to those who wait, with Helmut Marko feeling the year in Japan was necessary for the Frenchman to be ready for Formula 1.
“It was in Austin 2016 when Helmut told me that Daniil was signed for 2017,” said Gasly to the official Formula 1 website. “I thought that was not fair.
“I had just won the GP2 championship. It was a mixture of being angry, disappointed and sad.”
