AlphaTauri confirm Gasly, Tsunoda line-up for 2022
AlphaTauri have confirmed Pierre Gasly and Yuki Tsunoda will remain as their driver line-up for the 2022 season.
The decision will come as a relief to Tsunoda in particular, with the rookie having recently expressed fears that his place with the team was only “50-50” for next year after a series of mistakes.
For Gasly, remaining with the Italy-based team was never in doubt after Red Bull had taken the decision to extend Sergio Perez’s contract for another campaign.
The announcement comes just over a year after the Frenchman registered his sole F1 victory at the Italian Grand Prix, and returns to the scene of that Monza triumph this coming weekend.
Apart from an unsuccessful spell when promoted to the senior Red Bull team in the first half of the 2019 season, Gasly’s whole F1 career has been with the Faenza-based squad.
Check out all the latest AlphaTauri merchandise via the official Formula 1 store
all set for @F1 2022! 🤙 pic.twitter.com/WfvEYzTksQ
— Scuderia AlphaTauri (@AlphaTauriF1) September 7, 2021
“I am very happy to be moving forward with Scuderia AlphaTauri for another season in Formula 1, especially after seeing the progress we have made as a team since I first joined in 2017,” said Gasly.
“Seeing the performance we have shown so far this season, I think there are great things to achieve for the rest of this season and for next year, especially with the upcoming changes to the championship in 2022.
“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.”
Gasly achieved a podium finish in this year’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix, started and finished fourth at Zandvoort at the weekend and sits eighth in the Drivers’ standings.
Tsunoda, meanwhile, arrived in Formula 1 this year with a big reputation but has so far struggled to live up to it, a string of crashes and failures to reach the second part of qualifying sessions having blocked his progress.
He has scored 18 points, however, and been given another chance in 2022 to repay the faith Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko has placed in him.
“I’m really excited to be staying with Scuderia AlphaTauri for a second season,” said the 21-year-old.
“It’s an incredible opportunity and I’m so thankful to the team and Dr Marko for letting me continue to grow my experience in Formula 1.
“I have a very good relationship with Pierre, I have learned a lot from him already this year and his experience has helped me to keep developing my own skills, so it’s great to be continuing my F1 journey with him.
“Having recently moved out to Faenza, I am feeling very settled within the team and am looking forward to the upcoming season.”
The Planet F1 verdict:
AlphaTauri confirm 2022 driver lineup, 7th September
AlphaTauri confirm that Pierre Gasly and Yuki Tsunoda will stay for 2022.