Red Bull dump Daniel Ricciardo's F1 replacement Pierre Gasly mid-season

Red Bull Racing have made a surprising move, elevating Toro Rosso driver Alexander Albon to race alongside Max Verstappen and sending Pierre Gasly back to their development team.

Gasly endured a string of acceptable, if not spectacular results in the first half of the season after being elevated from Toro Rosso to replace Daniel Ricciardo, who left Red Bull to join Renault for the 2019 season.

'NOT HAPPY': Haas F1 boss fires back at Daniel Ricciardo

'WHAT A DISASTER': Aussie rider's horrifying moment after Moto2 crash

Pressure had been building on Gasly, with many in F1 circles speculating that Red Bull’s patience would not last after the Frenchman retired from the Hungarian Grand Prix.

In an almost poetic twist, it was a collision with Albon that put Gasly out of the race in Hungary.

Albon’s impressive run opens the door

While Albon has certainly had a few moments to forget this season, his ability to hang tough has won him plenty of fans.

The Thai driver memorably fought back from starting in the pits to finish 10th at the Chinese Grand Prix, while his 6th place finish at the German GP also turned heads.

Red Bull have yet to confirm who will fill the seat full time in 2020, declaring in a statement that Albon would only be taking over from Gasly for the remainder of the 2019 season.

“Alexander Albon is being promoted to the team to drive alongside Max, while Pierre will return to the Red Bull sister team, Scuderia Toro Rosso,” the statement read.

“Red Bull are in the unique position of having four talented Formula One drivers under contract who can be rotated between the team and Toro Rosso.

“The team will use the next nine races to evaluate Alex’s performance in order to make an informed decision as to who will drive alongside Max in 2020.

“Everyone at the team looks forward to welcoming Alex and supporting him during the next phase of his F1 career.”