French driver Pierre Gasly has been chosen to replace Daniel Ricciardo for Red Bull Racing from 2019.

Ricciardo had already announced he is moving to Renault, leaving a vacancy alongside 20-year-old Dutch driver Max Verstappen.

"Since Pierre first stepped into a Formula One seat with Scuderia Toro Rosso less than a year ago he has proved the undoubted talent that Red Bull has nurtured since his early career," said team boss Christian Horner in a statement.

"His stellar performances this year at the Honda-powered team, in his first full season in Formula One, have only enhanced his reputation as one of the most exciting young drivers in motorsport."

Pierre who had his first competitive taste of Formula One last year, joining our sister team Scuderia Toro Rosso from the 2017 Malaysian Grand Prix, has had an impressive first full season in the sport this year, notably driving superbly to finish fourth at the Bahrain Grand Prix and notching two further top ten finishes in the first half of the season.

Starting in karting he competed in the French F4 Championship in 2011 before graduating to Formula Renault 2.0, winning that title in 2013. Now as part of the Red Bull Junior Programme he moved to the 3.5 Renault series racing for Arden Motorsport before stepping up to GP2 in 2015 and becoming Red Bull Racing’s reserve driver. He won the 2016 GP2 Drivers’ Championship at the end of a thrilling season racing for the Prema Powerteam. In 2017 he competed in Japan’s Super Formula Championship, finishing runner-up while having already begun his F1 career, racing at Scuderia Toro Rosso.