Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda went into the Styrian Grand Prix with a real possibility of a double points finish, this possibility disintegrated before the first lap had even ended, with Pierre Gasly having to retire after being hit by Charles Leclerc. Yuki Tsunoda however finished in tenth place to at least bring a point back for the disappointed team.
Tsunoda did well to bring a single point home to the team, the rookie battled hard throughout the race which saw the midfield extremely close together. As a whole the weekend was possibly the most consistent of his Formula 1 career so far, giving him much hope ahead of the Austrian Grand Prix this weekend, of course again at the Red Bull Ring.
“It’s a good step up from last week and I’m happy to be finishing in the points today. I want to say thank you to the team, we’ve put in a lot of work over the last few weeks, so to be in the top ten is really positive. I think potentially there was the opportunity to even finish in P8 or P9, but we just need to analyse everything and work hard ahead of next week.
“I believe this has been my most consistent weekend so far and I have to say overall I am happy. It was a real shame for Pierre today, but the pace of the car is definitely there, so we just need to put it all together next week. I’ve got some cool activities planned with AlphaTauri and Red Bull over the next few days and then we’ll start preparing for the second race here in Austria.”
“I don’t believe there was a lot I could do” – Pierre Gasly
For Gasly it was an extremely disappointing grand prix which ended before it could really begin. Having started from sixth, Gasly had a great opportunity to add to the team’s tally as well as his own. Unfortunately on the opening lap he was hit by a clumsy Leclerc, who struck Gasly’s rear left tyre just after re-entering the circuit having run wide at turn one.
This caused substantial suspension damage to Gasly’s car leaving no option but to retire it. The frustrated Frenchman does get another chance this weekend though, with the second of two races at the Red Bull Ring.
“Honestly, I don’t think there’s too much to say about today. I was in the middle of the straight when the incident happened, so I don’t believe there was a lot I could do. It was a great weekend up until that moment and I’m obviously extremely disappointed to not be part of the race today, as I think we had a great package to score points here. It’s extremely frustrating, as we’re in a tight fight in the Constructors Championship, but we still remain fifth which is really positive for the team.”
