Franz Tost sees Pierre Gasly as the leader at AlphaTauri ahead of 2021 F1 start, while praises ‘quick learner’ Yuki Tsunoda.
The AlphaTauri pairing for the 2021 F1 season certainly gives an exciting prospect, where the experienced Gasly is to take on a hyped Tsunoda. Even though the Japanese hasn’t won either of the F2 and F3 titles, he has progressed fairly quickly to the pinnacle.
It is the trust on the part of Red Bull and Honda, where Tsunoda has exceled certainly. So far, it has worked, but the ultimate test is F1. Against a ‘leader’ – as Tost calls Gasly – it will be a huge challenge for the Japanese racer, but there is positive hopes from him.
“Yes, you can take Gasly to be leader, because he is now in his fourth F1 season,” started Tost in the press conference. “He has learned a lot in the last years, and he has taken already on this role to be a team leader with his experience, and I think this will help out the team, and especially Yuki.
“Apart from the fact he’s very, very fast, he knows how to manage the tyres, has a lot of race experience, and we will get I think a lot out of this,” summed up Tost, who also had heaps of praise for newcomer Tsunoda for his performances in the Bahrain F1 test – much like how Helmut Marko did.
“We have a very good working relationship together,” ssaid Tost about Tsunoda. “We also had the advantage that he spent a lot of time in January and February in Faenza in the factory, because he didn’t want to go back to England, otherwise he would have been quarantined And we had a couple of test days as you all know in Imola and in Misano.
“He made really good progress in all his tests, and he had also a lot of time to talk to the engineers that they could instruct him with all the technical details. I think that he is now very well prepared. So far, everything is running smooth and well, and we have really a professional and good relationship. He is learning fast.
“He is very strong in fast speed corners. He is strong on the brakes, and of course, he has to learn all the details in Formula 1, how to manage the tyres, and all this kind of stuff. But the basics are here. He is really a high-skilled driver,” summed up Tost.
It will be a big year for both the drivers at AlphaTauri, where Gasly will hope to finally entice Red Bull to take him back, while Tsunoda will want to impress as much, so as to move onto the senior team in only his second F1 season in 2022.
Here’s what Yuki Tsunoda and Pierre Gasly think of F1 2021
Here’s lap count from Bahrain F1 Test
Here’s Pierre Gasly after final day of testing
