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Gasly staying at AlphaTauri in 2021

Russian Grand Prix

LONDON (Reuters) - Italian Grand Prix winner Pierre Gasly will continue to race for AlphaTauri in 2021, the Red Bull-owned Formula One team confirmed on Wednesday.

The announcement was expected and ended any lingering speculation that the 24-year-old Frenchman might return to the main Red Bull team alongside Dutch driver Max Verstappen.

Gasly joined AlphaTauri, then known as Toro Rosso, in 2017 before moving to Red Bull in 2019. He returned halfway through that year in a straight swap with Thai racer Alexander Albon.

Albon's position has become uncertain, with the youngster trailing Verstappen in the championship and Red Bull indicating they would look outside their pool of drivers for any replacement.

AlphaTauri team boss Franz Tost said in a statement that he hoped Gasly would stay in the "Red Bull family" for many more seasons.

"Pierre has proven to be highly competitive also thanks to his great race craft, extracting the car’s potential at every race and giving valuable feedback to his engineers," he said.

"He is mentally very strong, he is always motivated and when he sets a goal he gives it his all to achieve it. I’m looking forward to extending this cooperation and having a successful 2021 season together."

The team's second seat, currently occupied by Russian Daniil Kvyat, remains undecided with Japanese Formula Two driver Yuki Tsunoda in the frame and due to test at Imola in Italy next week.

(Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Christian Radnedge)