Well it seems like a week of driver announcements this week! Yuki Tsunoda and Pierre Gasly have been retained by AlphaTauri for 2022.
Pierre has been with AlphaTauri since being demoted by Red Bull back in 2019 and it saw him get his first win in F1 with AT. His constantly dragging everything out of the car to perform well and it seems to be paying off, and his hoping for some podium finishes this year! His currently sat in 8th in the drivers championship.
Yuki is new to AlphaTauri, with it being his rookie season in F1, he hasn’t done too bad… He scored points in his first race, which put peoples expectations high but as he is only a rookie you can’t expect him to finish in the points consistently. You can expect mistakes in the first year as they are still learning the car and where the limits are. Yuki is currently sat in 13th in the drivers championship.
I think for AlphaTauri next year, they will be looking to get more up the front, with both drivers being consistent in the points they would want to be battling for P3, P4 in the championship alongside McLaren and Ferrari
Looking into the new aerodynamic era of Formula 1, Gasly assessed “there are great things to achieve”. “I’m very excited to see what we can accomplish in the new era of F1 and to keep working with the team as best as I can to bring us forward in the team standings. This year has been very successful so far and I really believe we can work well together to do even better in 2022.”
“I’m really excited to be staying with Scuderia AlphaTauri for a second season,” said Tsunoda. “It’s an incredible opportunity and I’m so thankful to the team for letting me continue to grow my experience in Formula 1 with them.”
My Opinion-
I think this is a good move, both drivers get on well on and off the track. I didn’t see them changing it to be honest, this line-up provides stability into the new season and I think thats good especially with the changes coming in next season.
I do think Pierre should be in a top car, he deserves to show what his capable off and I feel like his shown what he can do in an AlphaTauri, put him in an Ferrari and he will do brilliant things. However that won’t happen as he is still under contract with Red Bull as a junior driver until 2023, so if he wants to break out of it then the 2023 season is where it happens.
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