Pierre Gasly on Yuki Tsunoda struggles at Red Bull: 'I know some stuff that can’t be said'

Pierre Gasly has shared how he is best trying to support Yuki Tsunoda through the Japanese driver's difficult start to life at Red Bull.

The Alpine driver, who raced for the Milton Keynes-based squad for half a season in 2019 before being demoted back to Toro Rosso, empathised with his former AlphaTauri team-mate's plight, but shied away from disclosing details from his tenure at the team.

Tsunoda has endured a dismal first 12 rounds with Red Bull after taking over the second seat from Liam Lawson just two weekends into the campaign.

The 25-year-old has racked up a meagre seven points in that span and is scoreless over the past seven grands prix.

Despite small signs of improvement at the recent Hungarian Grand Prix, which was also the team's worst performance of the year, Tsunoda has followed in the footsteps of the drivers that came before him, and, bar Lawson, to an even greater extent.

Gasly developed a strong relationship with the embattled driver during their two seasons together at Red Bull's Faenza-based sister team, now Racing Bulls, and conceded "it's not easy" being in Tsunoda's position.

Speaking exclusively with RacingNews365, the 29-year-old explained that he could not divulge the specifics of his stint alongside Max Verstappen at the six-time F1 constructors' champions as a reference point for what Tsunoda might currently be experiencing.

The one-time grand prix winner did, however, reveal he knows "some stuff that can't be said" of the situation behind the scenes.

"What's tricky is my time, a lot of things can't be said, because you're a driver, you're working for a team, and as a professional, you can't share all the information on the specific situations," Gasly said.

"Talking with Yuki, I know some stuff that can't be said, and it's not easy. It's not easy to be in this situation.

"You try to do what's best for the team, and sometimes you get given something to make it work, and sometimes you're in a situation where, for different reasons, it can't quite work the way you like."

Addressing how he is able to help Tsunoda through this difficult stage of his F1 career, Gasly touched upon his role as a friend to the Red Bull driver, but maintained it is crucially between driver and team to remedy the situation.

"So, knowing from experience, I just try to chat as a friend and just advise on stuff that may help him," he stated.

"And I think ultimately, it's up to him and the team to make it work and do the right things for it to work."