AlphaTauri counts on novelties

After the failure in Spielberg, AlphaTauri is optimistic about the stage in Paul Ricard, where the team will bring a revamped car…

Pierre Gasly: “The Austrian weekend turned out to be difficult, so I want to get back behind the wheel as soon as possible. Qualifying for the Red Bull Ring went well, we were outside the top ten, but we knew that this track is not suitable for our car. Unfortunately sprint races never went well for us and on Sunday an incident didn’t show the speed at which I could fight with rivals, and two penalties didn’t help.

But I look forward and hope that the new items we will receive this weekend will allow us to add. Basically they relate to aerodynamics and should really increase the efficiency of the machine. I really want to try them as soon as possible in Paul Ricard in the hope that they will bring us back in the battle for points.

This is a special weekend. My home race. Unfortunately, there is some uncertainty about the future of the French Grand Prix. We don’t know if we’ll see this stage on the calendar next season, but I want to enjoy the moment and share it with my fans, with the French Formula 1 fans. For the fans, we have a special “Fan Out” at the chicane on the back straight. It’s nice to be able to communicate with them a little more than usual. I hope we can please the French public with our performance.”

Yuki Tsunoda: “The Austrian weekend has been particularly difficult for us this season, and the sprint format made it even more difficult. I understand the conditions are the same for everyone, but we didn’t have enough time to prepare the car for the race. In qualifying we performed well, but in the sprint there was no speed. However, I am satisfied with my approach to the race and the level of concentration, I avoided mistakes and took another step forward.

In Paul Ricard I participated in the youth series several times and last year I took part in the Grand Prix, starting from the pit lane after a qualifying error. On this track, you have to ensure efficient handling of the car in medium-speed corners, which can be difficult given the configuration. The combination of a fast straight, slow and medium corners at the end of the first and third sectors may reveal some weaknesses in our car, but in France we will get new items so I hope this won’t happen.

We have to go back to the qualifying final on Sunday to earn points. The team opted for one major update instead of many smaller ones, which should help in the fast and medium corners where we had problems. I hope this makes the car more stable and will allow you to fight again at the top of the middle group of teams.