The AlphaTauri update doesn’t seem to be working to plan yet – Pierre Gasly and Yuki Tsunoda have different problems and are hoping for rain
AlphaTauri continues to tread water after its first major update of the season in France. Friday in Hungary did not go satisfactorily for Pierre Gasly and Yuki Tsunoda, who finished 15th and 19th respectively in the second practice session
“I was actually happy with my lap, but the performance is just not there,” Gasly expressed his perplexity. “We have to understand that because with the balance of the car there were actually no problems. It’s just the grip. We just slide too much.”
His team-mate Tsunoda is similarly perplexed by the poor performance, although he suspects the cause lies elsewhere: “The balance is still not ideal, I have big problems with that. “
Tsunoda: Update “so far a step back “
With the lack of pace, Gasly is therefore hoping for the rain god on Saturday and Sunday: “The rain wouldn’t be a bad thing for us and when I look at the weather forecast, I’m happy because I like those conditions.”
The France update, then, currently seems to be below par. “So far it’s more like a step backwards even, if I’m honest,” Tsunoda said. “The balance is not there and we need to find out why that is and find a solution to it. “
Gasly countered, “It’s a bit different from France, but the balance is not the issue. I put a clean lap down but the lap time just wasn’t there. I don’t understand that and we have to analyse that. “
Team boss Franz Tost: Update still not a step forward
Team boss Franz Tost is also not yet convinced by the AlphaTauri update. Asked if they have made a step forward since the introduction in France, the Austrian says: “No, we still have some catching up to do.”
“So there’s still some work to do there in terms of set-up and I hope the engineers will pull off some sensible set-up moves to make us faster, especially then tomorrow in qualifying and in the race the day after tomorrow.”
In fact, it is now almost normal in Formula One for new parts to take a few races to work and for the effects to be understood. AlphaTauri team boss Franz Tost explains why this is the case.
Tost explains: why updates don’t work immediately
“Both factors come together. A, that there’s so little testing and B, if you bring a completely new underbody now, you might get more downforce, but how does the front-rear ratio change?”
“Now you have to adjust again and know how much wing do you give so that the rear doesn’t become unsettled. And because we now only have one hour in FT1, FT2 also only one hour, you run out of time because you also have to test the tyres.”
“That means that from the aerodynamics you can test a few basic things, but of course you also have to consider the tyres. And this combination makes it difficult to find the best compromise,” Tost explains.
