It was a bittersweet qualifying at the Belgian Grand Prix for Scuderia AlphaTauri, with Pierre Gasly taking a top ten start on Sunday after the demotion of several drivers due to grid penalties, while Yuki Tsunoda was left unsatisfied with a rough final lap that saw him finish nineteenth, placing him thirteenth on the grid.
AlphaTauri Technical Director Jody Egginton said that the team had made progress between Friday running and the final practice session, having found, ahead of qualifying, that the overnight set-up changes were effective.
“Following Friday running, we had a good picture of the areas we needed to focus on today. The analysis and subsequent set up changes made overnight pretty much delivered according to expectation, meaning both cars took a step forward in terms of balance for FP3. We included a longer run with both drivers in FP3 in order to try and gather some of the data we were missing following yesterday’s rain shower towards the end of FP2.”
Egginton said that Gasly’s solid performance put him very close to a Q3 appearance in the midst of tight competition, ultimately finishing in twelfth place on the timesheets and starting eighth tomorrow.
“Qualifying was, as expected, very tight in the midfield, but a strong first run in Q1 by Pierre provided a good basis to build on, which he subsequently did, with the car being well balanced and making Q2 without any fuss. Pierre’s first stint in Q2 on a used tyre was very strong and he built on this for his second outing on new tyres putting in a very clean lap, but unfortunately, we were missing the last 0.15s to make Q3, in what was a very tight session.”
Tsunoda was eliminated in Q1 after a couple of shaky moments during his final lap, including a run off the track after a particularly stark lock-up in the final corners. Egginton said that Tsunoda had shown potential for a much greater result throughout practice, making the lowly finish “frustrating” for the team.
“On the other side of the garage, Yuki struggled a little more in Qualifying and a couple of front tyre lock ups during his second run meant he was not able to put his best lap together and was unfortunately eliminated in Q1. This is frustrating for Yuki and the team, as he has had a solid weekend so far and for sure more was possible.”
Egginton said that the team’s primary aim is to push for points and move forward, with Spa presenting more opportunities than usual to overtake.
“As normal, focus now shifts to preparations for the race, and with the probability of making a pass here being much higher than the season average, there is plenty still to play for in terms of trying to get into the points with Pierre and also getting Yuki moving forward tomorrow.”
