Pierre Gasly says he also asked Red Bull for a more experienced race engineer before he was dropped mid last year.

The pressure on Gasly's successor, Alex Albon, is continuing to rise, amid rumours Sebastian Vettel is pushing hard for the 2021 seat alongside Max Verstappen.

For Silverstone, Red Bull relegated Albon's existing race engineer to the factory, replacing him with the more experienced Simon Rennie, who won races in collaboration with Mark Webber and Daniel Ricciardo.

"Apparently Red Bull is doing that because they think it's the right thing to do," Gasly is quoted by the Dutch publication Formule 1 at Silverstone.

Gasly confirmed that, prior to his demotion to Toro Rosso-Alpha Tauri last year, he asked Red Bull for a more experienced engineer.

"To be honest, yes, I did," said the Frenchman.

"I had only been in Formula 1 for a year, so I had little experience. I knew I was fast, but I would have liked someone next to me who was more experienced. Someone who, unlike me, was not new to Formula 1.

"That made it more difficult for me," Gasly continued, "although there were more reasons why we weren't as competitive as we hoped.

"I know those reasons, and so does Red Bull. We both know that things could have been better, but that is now a thing of the past," he added.

Gasly insists that he is happy with his current seat, and therefore does not envy the under-pressure Albon.

"As a driver, I am probably more satisfied with where I am now, because I am able to get the best out of myself. But I am not a different person," he said.

As for Albon, he concluded: "I don't know why Alex is struggling, but in four races, I was ahead of him twice in a slower car."