Willy-nilly, Franz Tost saw the man who made the heyday of his team (Toro Rosso then Alpha Tauri) leave for Alpine since October 2017, apart from a short interlude of 12 GPs with Red Bull in 2019. Pierre Gasly, since he he is the only driver with Sebastian Vettel to have made the Faenza team triumph (Italy 2020) and the Norman has scored 133 of the 177 points scored by Alpha Tauri over the past two seasons, i.e. over 75%! In other words, he leaves a huge void.
It is undoubtedly difficult for Yuki Tsunoda, Gasly’s draft teammate in 2021 and 2022, to become a new owner, even if his boss hopes to see the best. “Last year, Yuki had difficulties with the car, explains Tost. This year, as I expect we will have a fairly competitive car, Yuki should still aim for Q3 and finish the races in the points. He is a very capable driver and he has a lot of experience now with two seasons in Formula 1. For this reason he needs to score a lot more points than last year. »
Despite his inexperience, Nyck de Vries could have the stature of the new referent that Alpha Tauri is looking for. His performance at Monza last year, when Williams called him on to fill in for an Alexander Albon suffering from an attack of appendicitis, had indeed proven his ability to adapt. On the strength of his surprising ninth place, the Dutchman had dared to call Helmut Marko to offer his services, on the advice of his compatriot Max Verstappen. Winning phone call since the boss of the Red Bull sector deemed him strong enough to enter Gasly’s combination, an essential condition to let the Normand slip away to the competition.
“Nyck has only been in one Formula 1 race, last year at Monza, where he put in a fantastic performance, but he has a wealth of racing experience, winning races and Championships in many categories in which he participated, emphasizes Franz Tost. I’m sure he will be able to deliver good results from the start of the season and then get into the points at the races. »
At 28, Nick de Vries finally made it to F1. Will his ability to adapt be enough to make him Alpha Tauri’s new boss? (Alpha Tauri)
Champion of F2 in 2019 then of Formula E in 2021, the former protege of McLaren then of Mercedes intends to seize this chance which is finally offered to him in F1, at 28 years old. “Because my journey has been slightly unusual and longer, I’m even more motivated to seize my chance and determined to show what I’m worth”promet de Vries.
It remains to be seen whether the red-tinted F1 2023 of Alpha Tauri, which remains on a very disappointing 2022 season (8th in the Championship) after an attractive 2021 financial year (6th) will offer it the means to shine as much as Pierre Gasly knew how to do it. .
“Nyck is technically very competent, continues Tost. When he drove our car in the young driver test in Abu Dhabi at the end of last season, he already gave good technical feedback to the engineers. I think he will immediately understand the new car and quickly become familiar with it. His comments will be helpful as he understands the technical challenges that an F1 car presents. I think he is one of the most gifted drivers in terms of technical understanding of the car. » The ideal profile of the troop leader that Alpha Tauri needs to replace Pierre Gasly.