AlphaTauri retains Pierre Gasly & Yuki Tsunoda for 2022 F1 season

As expected, Gasly will head AlphaTauri’s challenge into F1’s major regulation overhaul in 2022.

The Frenchman has enjoyed his finest season to date with 10 points finishes in the opening 13 rounds, including a podium appearance at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, leaving him eighth in the drivers’ championship. 

Tsunoda has endured an inconsistent rookie season, showing flashes of brilliance, while he’s had one too many incidents during qualifying throughout the year. 

AlphaTauri cited its desire for “consistency and stability” when announcing its pairing for next season.

Speaking of the announcement, team boss Franz Tost said: “I’m pleased to announce today that we will keep both our drivers here at Scuderia AlphaTauri for the 2022 season. Pierre’s development in the years has been impressive and in his time with us he managed to make it to all three steps of the podium. Starting with the second place in Brazil in 2019, he then won our home Grand Prix the following year in Monza and this year he has already achieved a podium with a 3rd place in Baku. 

“I am confident there’s more to come and this is why we are excited to have him with us for another season. Furthermore, he is using his experience in F1 to help Yuki with his development. This year we have seen that the positive relationship between the two, made of a competitiveness on-track and a friendship off-track, has proven effective for the team. Yuki has joined the team as a rookie and is continuing to learn every day, the feedback from the engineers shows that he is absorbing all the information given to him and improving. 

“As a rookie, Yuki is only at the beginning of this journey, so it’s good that he can continue what we’ve started together. It’s great for us to be securing our driver line-up so early in the season, so we can now focus on the rest of 2021, where we’re in a tough fight in the midfield pack.”

With AlphaTauri currently in the fight for fifth in the constructors’ championship, Gasly remains hopeful the team can continue on that upward trajectory into 2022.

“I am very happy to be moving forward with Scuderia AlphaTauri for another season in Formula 1, especially after seeing the progress that we’ve made as a team since I first joined in 2017,” Gasly added.

“Seeing the performance we’ve 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.”

Tsunoda is happy to remain alongside Gasly for his sophomore season, having learned a lot from him already in 2021.

“I’m really excited to be staying with Scuderia AlphaTauri for a second season. 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,” Tsunoda commented.

“I have a very good relationship with Pierre, I have learnt 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.”