Pierre Gasly has described his Red Bull promotion as the “best situation that can happen” to him.

The Frenchman will partner Max Verstappen at Red Bull in 2019 after he impressed with sister team Toro Rosso.

And with the season now just over a month away, Gasly is adamant that a drive with Red Bull at this stage in his career is the perfect scenario.

He said: “It’s a very important season for me. I’m in a top team.

“There are 3 teams that stand out from the rest of the field: Ferrari, Mercedes and Red Bull. At 23, for my second season, I find myself in one of these teams.

“For me it’s a dream I had since I started karting. I will be with a teammate who is one of the best and most talented of the moment.

“To continue to improve, this is the best situation that can happen to me.

“I’m very excited to be at Red Bull, 4-time World Champion with Sebastian Vettel.

“Every year they have been at the forefront so I can not wait to get started.”

Gasly has also taken a more intense approach to his preparation for 2019, saying he will leave “nothing to chance”.

“I think everything becomes a bit more professional,” he explained.

“With my coach, we managed to identify my strengths and weaknesses, and the points to work on to go much more in detail to improve my preparation.

“I want to be 100% physically at the beginning of the season and mentally. I do not want to leave anything to chance for the best results possible.

“After [the tests in Abu Dhabi] I tried to take a few days off to spend time with my friends and family because that becomes more and more complicated to return to Normandy.

“In the process, I attacked the physical preparation. I went to the US for two weeks in Santa-Monica, at the Red Bull Training Center with my coach to prepare well by being far from everything. Then, mid-January, I started simulator days.”

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