Jody Egginton, Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda’s Technical Director, says the team showed a good level of performance throughout the United States Grand Prix weekend, with Yuki Tsunoda rewarding them with a ninth-place finish on Sunday afternoon.
Tsunoda, racing at the Circuit of the Americas for the first time in his career, used the soft tyre to good use to jump from tenth on the grid to run eighth on the opening lap, and despite losing a position to Valtteri Bottas, he was able to close out the race with two stints on the hard compound to finish ninth.
Unfortunately for AlphaTauri, Pierre Gasly was an earlier retirement on Sunday with a suspected suspension problem, and Egginton says they will be looking at what caused the problem and ensuring it does not happen again in the future.
“Today we’ve had a fantastic, well-deserved points finish for Yuki,” said Egginton. “He managed his race well, making good use of the soft tyre in the first stint and then managing both sets of the Hards to maintain his track position and score points.
“Frustratingly, Pierre had what looks like a suspension issue, which meant that we had to retire his car. This is something we need to ensure we have understood and resolved ahead of the next race. It cost us some crucial points, which is unfortunate for Pierre and the team.”
AlphaTauri’s two points moves them to within ten points of the Alpine F1 Team as the two teams battle for fifth place in the Constructors’ Championship, and Egginton is hoping to beat their rivals across the remaining five races of the season.
“Overall, the package has shown a good level of performance here in Austin, so the objective is to continue this form and keep the pressure on for fifth in the Constructors Championship,” said Egginton.
