AlphaTauri stick with Gasly and Tsunoda for 2022 F1 season

F1

Alpha Tauroi opt for consistency for 2022, retaining Pierre Gasly and Yuki Tsunoda for another season

Pierre Gasly and Yuki Tsunoda

Red Bull

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Pierre Gasly and Yuki Tsunoda will remain at AlphaTauri for 2022, with contract extensions announced today.

The team praised the “positive relationship” between both drivers, which has helped the team to score points in every race so far this season, and said that a consistent driver line-up would prove crucial next year when new regulations are introduced.

Gasly has already been on the podium this year, with a third place in Baku to add to last year’s Monza victory. Tsunoda has had mixed fortunes in his rookie year, with flashes of impressive pace.

“This year we have seen that the positive relationship between the two, made of a competitiveness on-track and a friendship off-track, has proven effective for the team,” said team principal Franz Tost.

“Pierre’s development in the years has been impressive and in his time with us he managed to make it to all three steps of the podium. Starting with the second place in Brazil in 2019, he then won our home Grand Prix the following year in Monza and this year he has already achieved a podium with a third place in Baku.

“I am confident there’s more to come and this is why we are excited to have him with us for another season. Furthermore, he is using his experience in F1 to help Yuki with his development.

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“Yuki has joined the team as a rookie and is continuing to learn every day, the feedback from the engineers shows that he is absorbing all the information given to him and improving. As a rookie, Yuki is only at the beginning of this journey, so it’s good that he can continue what we’ve started together. It’s great for us to be securing our driver line-up so early in the season, so we can now focus on the rest of 2021, where we’re in a tough fight in the midfield pack.”

Gasly had said that he would be happy to return to Red Bull, following his ill-fated 2019 move to the team, which lasted half a season before he was demoted to what was then Toro Rosso.

But the Frenchman said that he was now looking forward to seeing what the team could achieve in 2022.

“I am very happy to be moving forward with Scuderia AlphaTauri for another season in Formula 1, especially after seeing the progress that we’ve made as a team since I first joined in 2017,” he said. “Seeing the performance we’ve shown so far this season, I think there are great things to achieve for the rest of this season and for next year, especially with the upcoming changes to the championship in 2022.

“I’m very excited to see what we can accomplish in the new era of F1 and to keep working with the team as best as I can to bring us forward in the team standings. This year has been very successful so far and I really believe we can work well together to do even better in 2022.”

Last week, Tsunoda rated his chances of staying in F1 with AlphaTauri as 50-50 after making a series of errors this year. But the Japanese driver’s pace and commitment in moving to Italy to be close to the team’s Faenza factory, has earned him another season.

“I’m really excited to be staying with Scuderia AlphaTauri for a second season,” said Tsunoda. “It’s an incredible opportunity and I’m so thankful to the team and Dr Marko for letting me continue to grow my experience in Formula 1.

“I have a very good relationship with Pierre, I have learnt a lot from him already this year and his experience has helped me to keep developing my own skills, so it’s great to be continuing my F1 journey with him. Having recently moved out to Faenza I am feeling very settled within the team and am looking forward to the upcoming season.”

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