AlphaTauri’s Franz Tost explains why Formula One can no longer afford teams made up of two rookies and why at least one experienced driver is indispensable
AlphaTauri team boss Franz Tost believes the days of Formula One teams fielding two rookies could be over, as the gaps – especially between midfield rivals – are getting smaller and smaller and budget constraints will bring them even closer together in the future.
“In today’s Formula 1 it is a big challenge to compete with two inexperienced drivers, and in the Constructors’ Championship you are immediately at the back,” warns Tost.
2022 Haas alone relied on two debutants with Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin – a strategy that AlphaTauri also often used in Toro Rosso times. But times have changed: “With two rookies, you have no chance of being in the midfield or at the top,” analyses Tost.
Tost: After all, it’s all about thousandths
“The field is far too competitive, it’s too strong. If you look at the qualifying times, it’s about hundredths of a second. I think in Saudi Arabia Pierre was 0.087 seconds behind (Charles) Leclerc. That’s 78 centimetres or something, and that was two positions in the end.”
“And when you have a young driver, an inexperienced one, it’s about tenths, not thousandths,” the Formula One team boss knows, explaining why AlphaTauri broke with tradition in 2021 and opted to field an experienced driver in Gasly alongside youngster Yuki Tsunoda.
Tost prefers to stick to this approach in the future: “I think the combination with an experienced driver (and a rookie) is better. ”
AlphaTauri wants to continue to promote young talent
But at the same time he stresses that AlphaTauri, in its role as Red Bull’s development team, will always be ready to nurture young talent. “Then, of course, if there is a very well-trained young driver, Scuderia AlphaTauri is always able and willing to train a young driver,” Tost said.
After finishing sixth in the 2021 Constructors’ Championship, largely on the back of Gasly, AlphaTauri decided to extend both the Frenchman and Tsunoda for 2022, despite a difficult first year.
Speaking about the decision to nevertheless keep the Japanese driver with the team for a second season, Tost previously said that Tsunoda’s first year was “a fantastic example” of a rookie season that looked worse than it was. At the same time, he stressed that Tsunoda’s future was now “in his own hands”.
