Pierre Gasly could lose his seat with the Red Bull Formula 1 team during the 2019 season.

That is the warning of outspoken 1997 Formula 1 world champion Jacques Villeneuve, when asked about a difficult start to Frenchman Gasly's first year with Red Bull after a strong with junior team Toro Rosso in 2018. This time around, Gasly.

Gasly finished 11th at Melbourne and eighth at Bahrain. Gasly impressed during his first full F1 season with Toro Rosso last year, finishing in the top-10 five times. He received the call-up to replace Renault-bound Daniel Ricciardo for 2019.

"I do not feel comfortable in the car," Gasly said. "I'll have to adapt to it compared to last year's Toro Rosso, which was better suited to my driving. At the moment I feel a bit like a passenger."

For the moment, Gasly is supported by Red Bull team boss Christian Horner, but Red Bull's notoriously tough consultant, Helmut Marko, has accused Gasly of compromising the team's winter season with damaging crashes during test sessions.

"I'm sure he will eventually get on top of it," said Horner.

But if Gasly continues to struggle, Villeneuve expects Marko's regularly-swinging ax to come down on Gasly.

"If Gasly continues like this, returning to Toro Rosso would not be a surprise," Villeneuve told media outlet Sky Italia. "In the past, many of these boys struggled to move from a small team to a better team. People underestimate it.

"You can compare it to a driver going from Formula 2 to F1. Some can adapt more easily than others. Gasly will not have much luck with Marko this year. We know that he is able to change his mind every five minutes."

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