Pierre Gasly believes Yuki Tsunoda "deserves a chance" to impress alongside Max Verstappen at Red Bull.
The Alpine driver spent half a season partnering the Dutchman at the Milton Keynes squad in 2019, before being demoted back to what was then called Toro Rosso.
The Frenchman was then team-mate to Tsunoda for two seasons at AlphaTauri, prior to leaving the Red Bull family for Alpine in 2023.
Despite strong performances from the Japanese driver since Gasly left what is now RB, Red Bull has continuously overlooked him as a candidate to be slotted in next to Verstappen.
Through that period, Daniel Ricciardo and Liam Lawson have been widely touted and heavily-considered as replacements for Sergio Perez - and Tsunoda has not, despite out-performing both.
Red Bull needs a long-term solution to its second driver woes, with Perez falling short of expectations this term.
The 34-year-old looks increasingly likely to have his 2025 contract torn up, prompting speculation that Red Bull will consider both current RB drivers for promotion.
"It's a tough question," Gasly replied to media including RacingNews365 when asked whether Tsunoda should be given a shot. "I think performance-wise, he deserves a chance.
"[He] seems to have improved a lot from the moment he came [into F1].
"He's been performing pretty strongly this season and also last year. He's beaten his team-mates.
"From this point of view, looking at the Red Bull programme, it will make sense to give him a shot."
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Money talks
Perez, underwhelming recent performance aside, comes with considerable financial backing from his native Mexico, with Billionaire Carlos Slim responsible for much of the package supporting the six-time grand prix winner.
That is a consideration for Red Bull, with reports linking soon-to-be seatless Williams driver Franco Colapinto to the joint Milton Keynes-Faenza outfit on account of his substantial sponsorship roster.
However, interest has cooled on the Argentine - who has suffered a number of high-profile crashes in recent weeks - which might make firing Perez less palatable.
As for Tsunoda, Red Bull centrally contracts all its drivers, meaning it could easily make the change - especially given reserve driver Isack Hadjar is waiting in the wings.
The importance of money in contemporary F1 is a reality Gasly alluded to, but the 28-year-old reiterated his conviction that Tsunoda has shown form enough to warrant a seat change.
"But in the end, ultimately, we know there is not only performance that comes [in] to that decision with the top team," he conceded. "It depends on what Christian [Horner] and Helmut [Marko] want to do with it.
"So personally, I'd like to see him - and see what he does - there, but I know it's not that easy. "And if you ask me, performance-wise, yeah, I think he deserves a chance."
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Parrot sound Goulding
I agree with Gasly. Tsunoda is more experienced, and slightly faster, than Lawson; and safer than Colapinto.
PolarBeard
At times LL is faster than Yuki though, and giving said experience of Yuki, he should be always ahead of LL. The fact he's not might suggest to some that LL is the driver that is more readily adaptable to be put in the RB drive next season, which I certainly agree with. RB know they would've liked LL to have a full season under his belt in a competitive car at Racing Bulls, but they won't want to chance a rookie in with Max for one year, they won't want to keep Sergio on and Colapinto is too much of a safety hazard atm, so it comes down to Liam or Yuki, and as stated, Liam is the more moldable and exciting prospect. I DO think he needs a point or two though from these last two races to make the RB bosses decision a bit easier. But hey, we shall see what next season brings as RB are nothing if not unpredictable at the way they make their decisions, after all.
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Parrot sound Goulding
I recognise your points. Indeed, we shall see what happens very shortly.