Red Bull applauds Gasly but dismisses swap with Albon

Red Bull team boss Christian Horner commended Pierre Gasly's impressive performance at Spa but insisted there would not be another in-season swap between the Frenchman and Alex Albon.

Gasly, who was demoted from RBR to the junior bull squad after last years' summer break in favour of Albon, has performed well with the Faenza-based outfit, the 24-year-old putting in a series of spirited drives, scoring points in four races this season and comprehensively outpacing teammate Daniil Kvyat.

Gasly's momentum - validated by a P8 finish in Belgium - has led some to believe that another driver rotation could be in order, especially as Albon has struggled to match the pace of Red Bull teammate Max Verstappen.

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Horner is pleased with Gasly's form but has made clear that it won't incite the powers that be at Red Bull to undertake another swap.

"I think he's performing well in the environment at AlphaTauri," Horner said after last Sunday's Belgian Grand Prix.

"I think the car is a good car this year, I think it's an easier car perhaps to drive than our car has been at times but I think, Alex's performances on Sundays have been very strong.

"He drove another good race today; his defending, his overtaking, his attacking is always strong and I think we're going in the right direction, so I think it's good to see Pierre getting back up to speed, which is why he's still on the programme. But we're happy with the way things are."

Albon's raced among the top five at Spa, although at a fair distance from Verstappen. The British-Thai racer sparred with Renault's Daniel Ricciardo for most of the afternoon but didn't have the speed to gain an upper hand over the Aussie.

As he struggled with tyre degradation in the closing stages of the race, Albon succumbed to an attack from Renault's second charger, Esteban Ocon, on the final lap, a move that pushed him down to sixth at the checkered flag.

"Alex just wasn't able to hang on to that fifth place at the end. But I think nonetheless he did good job, defending hard throughout the grand prix," said Horner.

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