2022 Formula 1 French Grand Prix highlights

Scuderia AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly finishing in 12th and Japanese teammate Yuki Tsunoda exiting the race early at Circuit Paul Ricard.

Pierre Gasly

We tried to fight to get back into the points and what we managed was P12, which clearly isn’t the performance we would have liked. The fans and spectators made it a special weekend to put a big smile on my face, but I am extremely disappointed in the performance we showed. If I knew what the problem was, we could have changed it, but there was just a lot of sliding around and a lack of grip, especially in the high-speed corners. I tried everything I could in the car to push, changing lines, but there was nothing that clicked. Obviously, I don’t want to jump to any conclusions, but based on the pace we had today, we need to review to understand why Friday went so well and from then on it was a struggle. We finished only three seconds behind P10, so we aren’t miles away, but there are no points for P11 or P12. It is now important to understand this new package. It will take some time, but it is tight in the midfield, so we have to find the solutions. There are a couple of days before Budapest so we, as a team, have to stay strong together to find the solutions and make a big step forward.

Yuki Tsunoda

I got quite a lot of damage early on and it just kept getting worse with each lap. I watched back on the onboard, and I definitely left enough space, but he lost control. It ruined our entire race and five seconds is not enough in the end, when he continued with no damage, even getting some points. I know in racing these things happen, but it is such a shame especially after such a good Qualifying, and I feel bad for the team, also everyone back at the factory, to have it end like this after all the work they’ve done. We didn’t score any points after such a big upgrade, but I think I did the best I could this week. Even though Quali was good, the race is where points are scored in the end, so it was unfortunate. Top 8 could have been possible, but it is what it is, and we will definitely be back stronger and better in Hungary. We have a good car, so we stay positive.

Guillaume Dezoteux – Head of Vehicle Performance

Unfortunately, we leave Paul-Ricard with no point. Yuki’s race got compromised immediately after he got hit by Ocon and he ended up last. He tried to carry on, but the damage to the car was big and Yuki couldn’t maintain the pace and catch-up to the pack in front. There was no other choice but to retire him. Regarding Pierre’s race, we knew it would be difficult starting from the back, hence we put him on a different strategy with the Hard. The first half of the race was looking alright, but on Lap 28 Pierre did a mistake trying to overtake Albon and lost several places. From there, he pushed hard, and he had a good pace regaining the lost ground, but it wasn’t enough to get the Aston Martins. After a promising Friday, we failed to convert the improvements of the car into points, which is frustrating, but we have seen positive signs for the future races. We will analyse all the data before Hungary to further improve the setup around the new aero package. We will fight back!

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