Franz Tost is more focused on providing a competitive car to Nyck de Vries and Yuki Tsunoda in 2023 F1 season rather than seeing who is leader.
With Pierre Gasly leaving AlphaTauri, it leaves a ‘leader’ space in the team. The Frenchman was considered one due to his experience while Tsunoda got up to speed. Now with the former gone, the Japanese driver becomes a ‘de-facto’ leader.
However, Tsunoda still has much to learn considering his years in F1. The 2022 season was much better than 2021 for him. The results didn’t show as much since the car was overweight and did not provide enough grip to either of the drivers.
With de Vries joining them, even though he will be a rookie in F1, he is already a champion in Formula 2 and Formula E. He has a wealth of experience behind him, especially having raced in a competitive and higher level championships like Formula E and WEC.
Dr. Helmut Marko certainly sees de Vries as a leader material with the experience he is bringing in, even having worked with Mercedes. But for AlphaTauri team boss Tost, he is more into wanting to provide a competitive car to both its drivers.
Tost is not yet worried about who will lead and who will not. “This we’ll see,” he said. “Yuki has more Formula 1 experience. Nyck is a little bit older, has more race experience. He won many races and championships. I think the most important part is that we provide the drivers with a competitive car.
“And then it’s easy for both of them to set up the car and to perform well. Who from these two drivers will be the faster? This we will see? I don’t know yet. I’m looking forward, because both of the drivers have a lot of potential. Both of the drivers are fast. And I think that we should have a successful season,” summed up Tost, as AlphaTauri is set for its livery launch on February 11 in New York.
Here’s Yuki Tsunoda on feeling more relaxed in 2022
Here’s Pierre Gasly Yuki Tsunoda at Honda Thanks Day
Here’s Franz Tost on hiring Nyck de Vries
