AlphaTauri’s Jody Egginton: “We have a lot of work to do ahead of the next race”

Jody Egginton said the Australian Grand Prix was far from straight-forward for Scuderia AlphaTauri, with the team able to score only two points thanks to Pierre Gasly’s ninth place at Albert Park.

Gasly found his race compromised when he pitted just moments before the safety car was deployed, which allowed others to jump him as they were able to pit behind the safety car and lose less time.  He fell to fourteenth but climbed back up to eighth, only to make a small mistake that allowed Valtteri Bottas through.

Team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was unable to bring himself into contention for points, struggling throughout the fifty-eight-lap race to fifteenth, and Egginton, the Technical Director at the Faenza-based team, says a lot of work will need to be done to make themselves competitive in future races.

“Today’s race was not straight forward with, similar to the last race, Pierre losing track position with the safety car, meaning he had a lot to do to recover into a points-scoring position,” said Egginton. “These battles took a lot out of his front left tyre and, unfortunately, a small mistake meant we lost a position to Bottas in the closing laps, finishing P9.

“Yuki has had a tough day struggling for pace on both compounds, so we need to understand the factors behind this as he was reasonably happy with his car during the Friday and Saturday sessions.

“We have a lot of work to do ahead of the next race, but at the same time we are looking forward to the challenge.”

AlphaTauri has scored points in every race so far in 2022 but with only a best finish of eighth, meaning they sit eighth in the Constructors’ Championship, ahead only of Williams Racing and Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant F1 Team.