Pierre Gasly being replaced mid-season remained a major talking point of the 2019 F1 Season. Gasly struggled to adapt to the demands of Red Bull Racing F1. Ultimately, a poor run of results cost him his drive with Red Bull and the team swapped him with Toro Rosso F1 rookie, Alex Albon.

However, Spanish media have now made a sensational claim on Gasly’s sacking. According to them, Helmut Marko could not stand Pierre Gasly finishing behind Carlos Sainz. To add insult to injury, it occurred four times during Pierre Gasly’s stint at Red Bull.

“The reason he was put back to Toro Rosso is because Marko couldn’t believe he was behind Carlos Sainz .”

This came as a blow to Gasly. Earlier in 2019, Christian Horner publicly backed Gasly, stating he had far more potential than Carlos Sainz. It’s a known fact that Sainz was a liked member of the Red Bull driver program. Ultimately, with the team making Max Verstappen as their main driver, they feared intra-team clashes if Sainz was there.

“In Hungary, the Spaniard was faster than Gasly in the Red Bull. The Austrian racing team preferred Gasly to Sainz in 2018. Within the team, there is the disappointment that Carlos did not end up with them. Another reason for Sainz’s departure was the fact that they didn’t want to put him next to Max Verstappen at Red Bull Racing.”

Back in 2017, Sainz admitted that he was not too keen on staying at Toro Rosso for a fourth successive season and was targeting a Red Bull seat. However, Christian Horner insisted that Sainz Jr would remain with the sister team, only to look foolish afterward when Sainz was called up to Renault to replace Jolyon Palmer.

Soon, after a year with Renault, Carlos Sainz Jr moved to McLaren, while Red Bull had to make do with Kvyat, Albon, and Gasly. The best part was that Sainz showed Red Bull what they were missing out on at the 2019 Brazilian Grand Prix with his maiden podium.