Formula 1: Is Pierre Gasly the dark horse championship contender for 2019?

When the contenders to win the 2019 Formula 1 championship are discussed, one notable driver is often missing. Is Pierre Gasly the dark horse to pull it off?

Following his first full season in Formula 1 driving for Scuderia Toro Rosso after he replaced Daniil Kvyat in five of the final six races of the 2017 season, Pierre Gasly is set to replace Daniel Ricciardo at Aston Martin Red Bull Racing beginning in the 2019 season.

This move immediately makes the 22-year-old Frenchman one of the six drivers who are likely to finish the season in the top six in the driver standings, as Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport, Scuderia Ferrari and Red Bull Racing have been in their own tier in recent seasons. In fact, they have combined to win the last 118 races dating back to the 2013 season.

To further illustrate this concept, Ricciardo finished in sixth place in the driver standings this past season with 170 points despite the fact that he failed to finish eight of the season’s 21 races. Renault Sport’s Nico Hulkenberg, who finished in seventh in the standings, scored only 69 points throughout the season.

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When the contenders to win the 2019 championship are discussed, pretty much every driver among the six drivers who drive for the sport’s top three teams is brought up — except for Gasly.

Everyone knows that Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton is still the clear favorite to win what would be his sixth career Formula 1 championship, his fifth championship in the last six seasons and his third consecutive championship. But there has also been plenty of talk that teammate Valtteri Bottas could return with a chip on his shoulder after a winless 2018 season, which was a winless season largely due to Mercedes’ team orders to help Hamilton win races, and perhaps give the 33-year-old Briton a run for his money.

There has also been talk of Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel eliminating the many mistakes that ultimately cost him a chance to compete for the 2018 championship so that he can not only compete to win what would be his fifth career Formula 1 championship but actually win it in 2019.

There has been perhaps even more talk of what Charles Leclerc can do in his first season driving for Ferrari as the replacement for 2007 champion Kimi Raikkonen after an extremely impressive rookie season during which he drove for Alfa Romeo Sauber and finished in 13th place in the driver standings after recording 39 points on 10 top 10 finishes, including a career-high sixth place finish in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. He dominated teammate Marcus Ericsson, who finished in 17th in the standings just nine points on six top 10 finishes.

Many people believe that the 21-year-old Monegasque can not only overtake Vettel as the Scuderia’s top driver but challenge Hamilton for the championship as well.

Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen has also been discussed as a driver who could possibly dethrone Hamilton as a result of the fact that the Milton Keynes-based team are set to switch from Renault engines to Honda engines for next season, and justifiably so.

The 21-year-old Dutchman has already beaten Hamilton in several head-to-head battles, and the Honda engines should provide more reliability and more power for Red Bull Racing than the Renault engines did, especially in recent seasons.

However, especially considering the fact that Red Bull Racing’s engine switch applies to both of the team’s drivers, why is Gasly rarely mentioned when it comes to the contenders in the 2019 championship battle?

In fact, Gasly is set to enter the 2019 season with an advantage in that he, unlike Verstappen, has spent a full season driving a Honda-powered car, as Toro Rosso switched from Renault engines to Honda engines between the 2017 and 2018 seasons. The Red Bull Racing junior team’s first season with Honda engines was, for the most part, a success.

Gasly had a fantastic rookie season in 2018, as he finished in 15th place in the driver standings with 29 points on five top 10 finishes, including an career-high fourth place finish in the Bahrain Grand Prix. He dominated teammate Brendon Hartley, who finished in 19th in the standings with just four points on three top 10 finishes.

It certainly isn’t hard to imagine Gasly running at the front of the field and winning races for the first time in his Formula 1 career next season. He is definitely not the favorite to win the 2019 championship, but he clearly deserves a lot more respect than what he is getting when it comes to discussing the contenders for it.

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Do you believe that Pierre Gasly has a legitimate chance to win the 2019 Formula 1 championship? Where do you believe he will end up finishing in the driver standings? The 21-race season is scheduled to get underway at Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit in Melbourne, Australia on Sunday, March 17, 2019 with the Australian Grand Prix. Be sure not to miss this race or any of the other races on next year’s schedule.

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