AlphaTauri driver Pierre Gasly is very angry with his team after the Singapore 2022 Formula 1 Grand Prix.
The Frenchman got the last point in tenth place, but Gasly could have done a lot more if the strategy hadn’t gone haywire.
Gasly started the race from seventh place on the grid and was able to hold onto this position for the first half of the race. When asked if he was hoping for more as a result, he says: “I mean, if you don’t do a good job, that’s usually fair. It’s as simple as that. I think we didn’t do a good job today.”
“We were seventh, ahead of the two Aston Martins on the track, we had everything in hand and we threw it away because we pitted too early. There was no communication, no dialogue, which I don’t quite understand , why. We took a risk at a moment when it wasn’t necessary,” he explains.
Pierre Gasly: ”It’s obviously very disappointing”
On lap 33, Gasly was the second driver after George Russell to switch to dry tyres. His teammate Yuki Tsunoda came in on the same lap but subsequently lost his car in the second sector, triggering a safety car period. This particularly benefited the McLaren drivers who had not yet changed their tires and were able to come to the pits to save time.
“We came into the pits when everyone else was on the track and we were overtaken by four cars,” Gasly complained. “This is of course very disappointing for the whole team and for all of us, because it means we drop two places in the team standings.”
“Daniel [Ricciardo] was a long way behind us but he stayed behind like we should have and finished P5. So there are nine points that we lost, nine important points. So yeah, I’m just sad and not happy with our performance.”
AlphaTauri only penultimate in the Constructors’ Championship
“It was just too soon and I don’t understand why we did it. I haven’t spoken to them. Of course we’ll check, they have their reasons for that, but we should at least have communicated and that wasn’t the case.” , according to Gasly.
Because Aston Martin scored a total of twelve points with Lance Stroll and Sebastian Vettel, AlphaTauri has now slipped to ninth place in the Constructors’ Championship, tied with the Haas team, which bothers Gasly a lot.
“I mean, with the position we were in – we were ahead of our two main rivals on the track, in drying conditions and you know warming up would be difficult – I don’t see the point in risking something like that. And we simply gave away our position,” he criticizes.
“And when do we have a chance to get P5? This year that’s only happened once in 18 races. So it’s frustrating now because we’re pushing really, really hard and today we just didn’t make the right decision. “
AlphaTauri admits strategy mistakes
The fact that Gasly criticizes his team so harshly and does not mince his words could be due, among other things, to the fact that his move to Alpine is a done deal and is to be announced in Suzuka next week.
But Jody Egginton, Technical Director at AlphaTauri, also has to admit that the team in Singapore missed a great opportunity: “After all the hard work that the team and the drivers have done over the weekend, it’s not for us tonight managed to finish in the points with both cars. That’s because our engineering team switched to slick tires too early.”
“That cost both drivers a good position and unfortunately Yuki also slid off the track shortly after. That meant we only finished with one car and scored far fewer points than we should have.”
“As a team we will now analyze the race in detail to understand the areas where we can improve and take the necessary lessons to be able to make better use of such opportunities next time. We have a very good one tonight missed an opportunity that we should have grabbed with both hands,” admits Egginton.