Pierre Gasy needs a mental “Control-Alt-Delete” reset in a bid to recover his Formula 1 season, reckons his Red Bull boss Christian Horner.
Gasly has had a difficult start to the campaign, and his misery continued in the Austrian Grand Prix when he was lapped for a third race in a row, while team-mate Max Verstappen won.
Red Bull remains committed to Gasly for now, despite speculation that he could be replaced for 2020 by Daniil Kvyat if he does not improve his form.
The contenders for a 2020 Toro Rosso seat
However, Horner suggested Gasly needs to draw a line under his performances so far this year and start fresh from the next race at Silverstone in order to turn things around.
Asked by Autosport how worried he was about Gasly’s ongoing struggles, Horner said: “I think Pierre is having a tough time at the moment and we are doing our very best to support him. I think he just needs a reset.
“We know what he is capable of, and I think that we have just somehow got to go ‘Control-Alt-Delete’ in his head and start again.
“He is a quick driver and I think the problem he has got is that Max is delivering every week and that puts more pressure obviously on him to perform.
“But we are sticking behind him, we still believe in him and we will give him all the support we can to try to nurture the talent that we know he has.”
Horner stressed there was “nothing wrong” with Gasly’s car at the Red Bull Ring to account for his slow pace, but played down talk about Red Bull wanting to replace him soon.
“There is no intention to change Pierre,” said Horner.
“He is our driver, we are going to work with him and try to get the best out of him.
“He is having a tough time at the moment but we will do our best to support him through it.”