"I would not mind driving that car" - Pierre Gasly explains difference between driving Red Bull and Alpha Tauri F1 cars

Pierre Gasly has said he would not mind driving the Honda RB16B that Max Verstappen drove to his maiden F1 drivers' world championship victory at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Speaking to fans during a Reddit Ask Me Anything session, the Alpha Tauri driver had this to say when asked if he could adjust to the Red Bull car Verstappen drove in 2021:

"Every year, the car is different. New design. New chassis. Everything is different. Looking at this year's car, I would not mind driving their car. Max (Verstappen) is fighting for the championship, and they are consistently fighting for race wins, which was slightly different at my time. So, for sure, I'd like that. And honestly, it's not really that different."

The Frenchman is not wrong. His AT02 shares a lot of the design language and parts from Red Bull's RB16B. This is no surprise as both Alpha Tauri and Red Bull are under the same umbrella at the end of the day.

Pierre Gasly was promoted to Red Bull after Daniel Ricciardo's departure and spent the first half of the 2019 season with the Milton Keynes-based outfit, before a spate of tough results saw him reshuffled to then Toro Rosso, with Alex Albon moving the other way.

He has since remained with the team, as they became Alpha Tauri, finding more success with the sister team than with Red Bull.

With Alpha Tauri, Gasly scored his maiden podium at the 2019 Brazilian Grand Prix, with a mad drag race to the finish line with Lewis Hamilton for P2.

He then became a race winner in F1 when he held off Carlos Sainz to win a spectacular home race for Alpha Tauri at the Italian Grand Prix in Monza in 2020. He also bagged an unlikely podium at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in 2021 with the team.

With regular point-scoring finishes for Alpha Tauri to his name, one can only speculate on what could have happened had Pierre Gasly stayed on with Red Bull.

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2021 Pierre Gasly's strongest F1 season yet

Despite driving a midfield car, Pierre Gasly's 2021 campaign was his best yet in F1. The Frenchman didn't win a race but had a podium in Baku. He also crossed the 100 championship points mark for the first time, scoring 110 points in 2021.

Gasly also recorded his highest ever finish in the drivers' world championship standings, with a P9 finish in 2021.

While Sergio Perez is still contracted to drive for Red Bull in 2022, Pierre Gasly remains an excellent option waiting in the wings for Red Bull to give him another opportunity to fly.