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AlphaTauri team principal Franz Tost believes they still have performance and reliability issues to resolve. Despite Yuki Tsunoda’s top 10 performance at Imola, the Austrian team principal revealed that there could be some races where he starts at the bottom of the grid.
Speaking to the Italian editor of the Motorsport Network about Tsunoda’s performance, the AlphaTauri chief said:
“We still have huge problems coming up. He will have to start far behind in some races of the season and this worries me, because it was an expected situation. Currently I would say we are two steps behind our rivals, not just one.”
Tost revealed that Tsunoda will start at the back in many races in the future. Compared to their rivals, the Austrian team principal believes they are on the back-foot in terms of performance. Due to the close nature of the mid-field, the Alpha Tauri boss feels that it will be very important to avoid mistakes and have error-free qualifying performances.
Stressing the importance of improvements that can be made, Tost said:
"Therefore we have to recover, and we should also avoid making certain mistakes like in qualifying, because the cars fighting for the central part of the grid are all very close.If you make a small mistake, you find yourself cut off.”
AlphaTauri believes resolving reliability and performance issues is key to retaining fifth place
The Italian-based team chief feels the fifth place goal in the constructor’s championship can only be a reality if they resolve their performance issues. In an exclusive with Sportskeeda, the Austrian team principal revealed a top-five finish was ideally their target for the season, especially retaining fifth place where they finished in 2021.
Outlining their goals ahead, the Alpha Tauri team principal is ahead:
“Right now we lack both performance and reliability. If we don’t improve, fifth place in the Constructors’ Championship will not be within our reach. We have to improve performance and reliability, otherwise we won’t have any chance of hitting our goals.”
The AlphaTauri drivers have had two retirements so far due to reliability issues. In Saudi Arabia, Yuki Tsunoda was unable to start the race, while in Bahrain Pierre Gasly had a retirement. The team are currently seventh in the constructor’s championship and far from where they expect themselves to be.
