Scuderia Alpha Tauri’s Pierre Gasly says that he doesn’t have many things to say about his final race for the Italian team before he joins the Alpine F1 Team in place of Fernando Alonso next season.

“I don’t have many things to say about the race, we tried something different today, but it didn’t seem to work. It was my last with Scuderia AlphaTauri, and sadly tonight didn’t reflect our time together. I will remember everything I have experienced over the years with the team, my first race in Formula 1, first podium and first win. I know that I am a better driver today because of them and I am so grateful for all these achievements. I want to say a massive thank you to everyone I’ve worked with, they’ve all done a tremendous job. We’ve had three amazing podiums and now it’s time to celebrate these unforgettable memories together.”

The Frenchman finished the race in P14 while his team-mate Yuki Tsunoda finished the final race of the year in P11 and speaking following the action he said:

“I did the best I could out there today, so I have to be pleased with that. Unfortunately, the tyre just dropped off at the end and I couldn’t keep up the pace and make it into the points. It’s been a tough year for the team, but on a positive side I’ve learnt a lot, especially from Pierre. It’s been a pleasure to work with him over the last two years and I want to say thanks to him for everything he’s done for both me and the team.”

The Scuderia Alpha Tauri F1 Team finished the season in ninth place in the Constructors Championship on 35 points and speaking following the race in Abu Dhabi, Jody Egginton, Technical Director of the team stated:

“Yuki put in a solid and consistent race today, fighting for the final points positions. Unfortunately, the timing of the last stop from Albon forced us onto the soft tyre a bit earlier than planned. This compound did not quite have enough left in it to keep the pressure up on Vettel and Ricciardo for a top 10 finish. Starting Pierre on the soft tyre was aggressive, but given he qualified out of position, we felt we had to take a risk to try and move forward quickly. This tyre actually performed reasonably well, meaning he was boxing in phase with the cars around him. Whilst Pierre was outside the points, we extended the middle stint to see if any opportunity to take on the new tyre late would come around, however this was not the case and although we got him ahead of the Haas cars, we could not move him further forward towards the points. It’s been a long season and unfortunately, we have not been able to deliver the level of performance of the previous two years in 2022, but the entire team is totally focused on addressing this for next year. Finally, on behalf of the team I would like to thank Pierre for his hard work and dedication, he has been an important part of our success in recent seasons, and we wish him well in 2023.”

 

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