At the French Grand Prix, AlphaTauri brought technical innovations, but this did not help the team earn points. Pierre Gasly finished twelfth and his teammate Yuki Tsunoda retired due to car damage after colliding with Esteban Okon. The stage in France was the fourth in a row in which the AlphaTauri riders did not earn any points.
Pierre Gasly (12th): “I fought to earn points but finished twelfth – the result is not what we wanted at all. Thanks to the support of the fans, I have a big smile on my face, but I am very disappointed with our performance. If I knew what the problem was, we would have solved it, but the car was constantly skidding – it had no grip, especially in fast corners.
I did everything I could, tried different trajectories, but nothing helped to add. I don’t want to jump to conclusions, but based on today’s pace, we have to analyze everything to understand why we did well in Friday’s practice, and that’s when the problems started.
I finished just three seconds behind tenth, so it’s not that big of a gap, but eleventh or twelfth place doesn’t get any points. Now it is important to deal with the updates. This will take time, but we will find a solution.
There are still a few days left before the Budapest stage, so we need to stay strong and united as a team to find a solution and take a big step forward.”
Yuki Tsunoda (retirement): “At the start of the race the car was badly damaged and with each lap it got worse. I’ve seen a replay of the incident and I can say I left enough space, but Okon lost control of the car and ruined my race.
Five seconds of punishment is not enough punishment. His car was not damaged and he earned points. I know it happens in racing but it’s a shame it happened after a successful qualifying. I feel sorry for the team, everyone who has worked on the base and achieved such a result. We have not earned any points, although we have brought many new products. On the other hand, I think I did my best.
One good qualification is not enough – points are awarded at the end of the race. Too bad it ended like this. Finishing in the top eight was possible, but that’s about it. We need to come back stronger and perform better in Hungary. We have a good car, so the team remains positive.”
Source: F1 News
I’m Todderic Kirkman, a journalist and author for athletistic. I specialize in covering all news related to sports, ranging from basketball to football and everything in between. With over 10 years of experience in the industry, I have become an invaluable asset to my team. My ambition is to bring the most up-to-date information on sports topics around the world.
