Jonathan Eddolls: Gasly has raised his game since Red Bull signing

Toro Rosso chief race engineer Jonathan Eddolls has revealed that Pierre Gasly has made significant progress in two areas in his time at the team, with the Frenchman having signed for Red Bull from 2019 onwards.

Gasly came in at Toro Rosso at the end of 2017, benching Daniil Kvyat for the final handful of races of the season. This season, the 22-year-old is driving his first full season in F1. He's impressed so much, in fact, that Red Bull opted to sign Gasly to replace the departing Daniel Ricciardo, who will drive for Renault from next season onwards.

“Firstly he is very confident in his ability,” Eddolls was quoted by RaceFans.

“He is a very fast driver and I think that confidence has grown throughout the year.

“He was good already at the start of the year. As we know these Pirelli tyres are very difficult to understand in all of the conditions. Every race is different, every race presents a different challenge – graining, blistering, overheating. I think that’s one of the areas he’s worked on and developed the most."

After winning the GP2 title in 2016, Gasly switched to the Super Formula in 2017. That's why he had to re-adjust to Pirelli tyres once he was signed for Toro Rosso at the tail end of last year.

“He’s still had a couple of races recently where it’s shown that we haven’t fully understood the tyres but the good thing with him is he’s happy to sit down after the race and go through everything – he’s massively keen to learn. The most recent races, he’s shown that in tyres management he has made big steps there.”