Gasly impressed by Verstappen's progress after 'aggressive' start in F1

Pierre Gasly has heaped praise on former teammate Max Verstappen, describing the Dutchman and Red Bull as an "incredibly efficient package".

Gasly spent half a season alongside Verstappen at Red Bull in 2019, getting promptly promoted from and sent back to sister team Toro Rosso (now AlphaTauri).

While Gasly rebuilds his F1 career, Verstappen has surged to a maiden F1 title, and holds an 80-point lead in this year's standings with eight wins from 13 races.

Reflecting on their respective journeys, Gasly took his hat off to the "excellent" Verstappen for the success he is now achieving.

"I've been racing with Max for the past 15 years, even before Formula 1; it's been always intense to race against [him]," Gasly told Express Sport.

"That's what I always loved, the battles we've had in the past, the close racing. He's obviously extremely talented. He's excellent.

"I think the experience and the combination of what he built with Red Bull Racing is just an incredibly efficient package."

Gasly hopes to battle with Verstappen in the future

Verstappen made his F1 debut with Toro Rosso back in 2015, at the age of 17, after just one year in single-seater racing.

While he displayed impressive pace from the outset, several rivals raised questions over his approach to racing, with a so-called 'Verstappen rule' being introduced at one stage to prevent moving under braking.

Since then, Gasly thinks Verstappen has developed into the complete package.

"He was probably a bit raw when he came in F1, very aggressive, and made a couple of mistakes at the start even if he was always super competitive," added Gasly.

"But I think now over the last few years he has just completely proven his potential. He is barely doing any mistakes and delivering weekend in and out and really performing at the best of what Red Bull provide him.

"It's very impressive, but as I said, always entertaining to race against him, and I hope to have some really good and intense battles in the future against him."