AlphaTauri boss Franz Tost is confident that Pierre Gasly will be staying with the Red Bull family for some time to come.
Gasly made his Formula 1 debut with the team (then called Toro Rosso) at Malaysia in 2017 and had a brief 12-race stint with the senior Red Bull team in 2019.
But since his return to the smaller squad he finished on the podium in Brazil, and then went on to claim his maiden win in Monza last year.
Despite a strong season, Gasly wasn't considered for a second shot at the Red Bull seat when the team opted to replace Alex Albon with Sergio Perez. Instead he'll remain at Faenza for 2021 alongside Yuki Tsunoda.
But Tost insisted that Red Bull valued the driver and were unlikely to let him go to another team, as Carlos Sainz did in 2017 when he left Toro Rosso for Renault, and then on to McLaren and Ferrari.
"If a driver is competitive like Pierre, then yes, of course other teams will ask about the contractual details," he told Motorsport.com. "They will want to know when a driver will be available.
"But he has a Red Bull contract," Tost pointed out. "And I don't think Red Bull will release him at such an early stage.
"They've invested a lot of money to build him up," he pointed out. "Sooner or later they'll want to get the fruits back and good results with him. Win races, and also championships. We'll see."
Tost certainly recognised the 24-year-old Frenchman's talent and contribution to the team.
"He is now an experienced driver, and a successful driver as well," he said, adding that he would be the senior driver at AlphaTauri this year. "Any team is always oriented and concentrated to a successful driver.
"The designers and the engineers, they keep the consideration of all technical feedback from such a good driver that they make next year's car even better.
"The team listens to the technical feedback of the driver, and of course as a result of this [he influences] the new design of the car.
"This car then fits with the driving style of this driver making the car simply faster. That's the normal way."
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