Scuderia AlphaTauri will look to bounce back after a disappointing race at Zandvoort in the FIA Formula 1 World Championship as Formula 1 heads to Monza for the Italian Grand Prix this weekend.
Pierre Gasly has not had the season he would have wanted with the team’s point tally below expectations. AlphaTauri are lacking in performance compared to other cars around them, and that showed at the Dutch GP with the Frenchman finishing eleventh and his teammate having to retire from the race prematurely.
Gasly is hoping AlphaTauri can pick up form after a tough weekend and rekindle some of the magic from his win at Monza two years ago.
“Zandvoort was a tough weekend. We made some progress with the car going into Qualifying, but in the race, I didn’t really have the pace to fight with our usual rivals, especially after dropping a place at the start and running in traffic. However, we learned some useful lessons, so I’m approaching this last race in Europe, our home race, in a positive frame of mind.”
“Monza is close to home for me, and for the rest of my career, this race will always be very, very special for me. There’s a different feeling going there, not just because it’s a home race for the whole team. The energy and the atmosphere there is incredible for everyone in the team. We must come to the track with the drive and mentality to go and chase points.“
“Whether that will be easy or difficult with the car we have, there will always be some opportunities and we must maximise the potential we have. If we do a good job, we can transform that into good results. We have to stay positive and look ahead. “
“With these new cars, we have seen since the start of the year that, in some situations, they make things easier and in others, it can be a bit tricky, but in general, overtaking has been easier, so I don’t see why that should not be the case in Monza. “
We will be able to get closer to the car in front but there will be less of a slipstream effect, it will be interesting to see how that works out. I won at Monza from tenth on the grid which shows that in Formula 1 anything is possible!”
Yuki Tsunoda – “I am not sure how the car will suit this track”
Yuki Tsunoda will be disappointed with the ending to his Dutch Grand Prix after an impressive qualifying. The Japanese driver was forced to retire after an issue with his car that ruined his race.
Tsunoda is looking forward to racing at Monza, which is AlphaTauri’s home race and he hopes he can make progress.
“After the team had done a good job of improving the car in time for Qualifying in Zandvoort, things didn’t work out in the race and then I had a problem with the differential, that meant I had to stop. Now I’m just going to reset and focus on Monza, which is a special race for our team.
The 22-year-old is looking forward to his first full Formula 1 at Monza and spoke on the teams motivation.
“Last year I was unable to start the Italian Grand Prix, which means that I’ve never actually raced a Formula 1 car for a full-length Grand Prix at Monza. So, I am very keen to be able to race at what is another home track for us, after Imola. I’m excited about it, I know the team is too, so we have good motivation going into this weekend.
“At the moment, I am not sure how the car will suit this track, but as usual we will be working to extract as much performance as possible out of it. Slipstreaming is an important factor on this fast track and with these new cars, the effect will be less than in the past. Because you can now follow another car more closely in the corners, overtaking should still be possible, but you could get stuck in a DRS train.
“I expect we will see everyone trying to get a tow in Qualifying. How we handle that tricky situation could be the key to Qualifying well. We’re obviously carrying a penalty into this race [due to five reprimands received], but I like this track, so let’s see how it goes.”
