Felipe Massa believes that Pierre Gasly needs to move on from the Red Bull programme in order to fulfil his potential.
Gasly has had a rollercoaster of a journey since making his F1 debut in 2017 with Red Bull junior outfit Toro Rosso, now known as AlphaTauri, where he showed great promise.
He was then called up to the senior team in 2019 but looked completely out of his depth against Max Verstappen, so much so that he was demoted after just half-a-season with Alex Albon taking his place.
At that point his career looked to be over before it had even begun, but since that moment the Frenchman has driven exceptionally, consistently finishing in the points and picking up three podiums, including a momentous win at the 2020 Italian Grand Prix.
This form had led some to believe that Gasly could soon return to the Red Bull senior team, but these hopes were dashed last week following the announcement that Sergio Perez had signed a contract extension with the championship leaders until the end of 2024.
With Verstappen also set to stay at Red Bull until 2028, Gasly now has next to no chance of a drive with his former team and that has fuelled speculation that the 26-year-old will leave AlphaTauri if another team comes calling for his services.
Massa, who won 11 grand prix with Ferrari and narrowly lost the 2008 title to Sir Lewis Hamilton, believes a top team should sign him, telling F1TV: ‘He was really quick the whole weekend [at the Monaco Grand Prix].
‘In qualifying didn’t work well because of the strategy and the red flag, things didn’t work in the perfect way.
‘But I mean the performances he is showing, for a long time already, he is unbelievable.
‘He needs a good car too because he’s showing that he can drive a top car, he’s showing that he can even fight even for victories.’
Gasly’s AlphaTauri contract runs until the end of this year, although Red Bull chief Helmut Marko has claimed that they will keep him until at least 2023.
But moving to another top team will not prove easy, as Ferrari, Mercedes and McLaren all have drivers under contract for next season and while there is a slot open at Alpine, it is likely to be filled by promising youngster Oscar Piastri.
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