Franz Tost, Team Principal of Scuderia AlphaTauri believes the 2022 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix saw good progress for the team, with the upgrades that were added to the car. Tost believes that with only a few more minor changes, both Yuki Tsunoda and Pierre Gasly will start scoring points consistently.
There was happiness and frustration splitting the garage of the Italian-based team over the weekend, with Gasly being unable to score points after taking damage in the Sprint Qualifying session on Saturday, then being stuck in a DRS train behind Alexander Albon for the majority of the race. Tsunoda however, gained three places in the Sprint and a further five in the race to take an impressive seventh-place finish in changing-weather conditions.
AlphaTauri now find themselves seventh in the Constructors’ Championship, just one point ahead of the Haas F1 Team, who have found a lot of performance in the early stages of the 2022 FIA Formula 1 World Championship.
Speaking on the successes and failures of the weekend, Tost firstly congratulated AlphaTauri’s sister team on their one-two result on Sunday.
“It was a very exciting race today. I would like to congratulate Oracle Red Bull Racing for their well-deserved one-two. Max and Checo controlled the pace for the entire race, they did a really fantastic job.
“As for us, we also had a successful race. Yuki started in 12th position and after the first lap was already up to 10th. He drove a really strong race, overtaking many cars, to finish in seventh place. Yuki has been competitive immediately, from Friday onwards, so I think he now has a good basis for the upcoming races.
“Pierre on the other hand struggled a little bit this weekend and, in the race, he was unable to pass the cars ahead of him, to finish the race in 12th. We now have to analyse everything and find out what we can do to improve our performance for Miami. I think the new upgrades we introduced here this weekend worked well, and we now need to fine tune the car to have both drivers steadily in the points”
The AlphaTauri boss went on to explain the positive morale boost the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix gave to the many employees of the Italian team, who were able to enjoy their home race from the grandstands.
“Being our home race, many employees of Scuderia AlphaTauri were able to enjoy the race from the grandstands today, so it was great for them to be able to enjoy Yuki’s exciting performance here in Imola. I want to say a big thank you to everyone in the team, both in Faenza and Bicester, who has contributed to today’s success.”
With sixteen points in their pocket, AlphaTauri will be hoping that any adjustments to their upgrades will help improve performance at the upcoming race in Miami, which is the first-time teams will visit the newly-built street circuit.
