“He lacks experience, so it won’t always be easy for him” – Pierre Gasly is eager to help AlphaTauri recruit Yuki Tsunoda in his debut Formula 1 season.
Yuki Tsunoda made quite a splash in Formula 2, earning him a shot at F1 with AlphaTauri. This especially means his teammate Pierre Gasly is finally the ‘senior’ driver in a team. But for the Frenchman, this doesn’t change anything, as he looks to build on his best-ever season in the pinnacle of motorsports.
“[Tsunoda’s] arrival doesn’t really change my approach. It will be the same as last year, when we got the most out of what we had to work with at pretty much all the Grand Prix, apart from one or two.
“So, we must keep going with the same philosophy, as I really believe last year was the team’s best in terms of the way it worked, the development, the performance, and in the way it managed the race weekends. I think that goes for me too and we just have to keep going like this to try and do a little bit better than we did last year.”
Pierre Gasly impressed with teammate Yuki Tsunoda
Gasly is impressed with his Japanese teammate, at the same time conscious of the fact that he will have to guide him. AlphaTauri finished P7 last season, and as such, would be looking for a step up. With the exciting pairing of the Frenchman and the Japanese, this could well be a reality.
“Of course, Yuki’s arrival means I will have more responsibility within the team and I’m ready to take on the role of team leader. However, he is a very quick driver and he will help us move the team forward. I know Yuki, he is a competitive guy and showed what he can do in F2, that’s why he was promoted to F1 after just one year.
“We will work together to achieve [moving the team forward]. He lacks experience, so it won’t always be easy for him, but I think he is talented and it will also be up to me and the team to lead the way.”
Read more: “I’m excited to learn everything I can from him”- Yuki Tsunoda finds a mentor in Pierre Gasly
