After the 2022 F1 round 15 Dutch GP final, Alpha Tauri’s Yuki Tsunoda looks back on the disappointing race.
AlphaTauri did not perform well at Zandvoort, and in FP1 and FP2 on Friday, they were expected to have a tough fight as they fell short of the leaders. However, AlphaTauri modified the machine until Saturday’s qualifying session, and in qualifying Q1, Yuki Tsunoda recorded the 3rd fastest time and decided to advance to Q2. Tsunoda made it through Q3 in the qualifying session and secured 9th place on the grid.
And in the final, Tsunoda lost two positions in the position immediately after the start, and aimed to come back from 11th. Tsunoda suddenly claimed machine trouble on the 43rd/72nd lap, when he switched to soft and medium and changed to hard for the 3rd stint.
Tsunoda reported to the team over the radio that “the tires don’t fit” because the traction was obviously strange. The team immediately replied, “It should be in!” and instructed Tsunoda to continue running.
After stopping the car once, Tsunoda returned to the pits for a slow run, changed to soft tires and re-fastened his seatbelt. After more than 30 seconds at this pit stop, Tsunoda returned to the track. However, the team informed him that there was something wrong with the differential gear, and Tsunoda once again gave up on continuing the race.
Tsunoda expressed his disappointment, “The pace looked pretty good for the race. The team’s official media reported.
“I lost a few places right after the start of the race, but I believed that the pace was not bad and I was confident that I could pick it up little by little. I could have finished in the top 10.”
“I went into the pits to change tires, but from the moment I got back to the track I felt something was wrong.
“Our goal was to finish in the points, but unfortunately we didn’t achieve that,” said Claudio Balestri, AlphaTauri’s chief vehicle performance engineer, of the Dutch Grand Prix.
“Both Yuuki and Pierre[Gathrie]had soft starts, so I thought we needed to look carefully at[degradation]on the tires.”
“On the first lap I lost positions after being passed by (Esteban) Ocon and (Lance) Stroll and in the first stint Yuuki was 11th and Pierre was 12th. Pierre did 10 laps in traffic and how the tires fell. was early
“Even in the second stint, Pierre ran behind Yuuki and the deterioration of the tires was noticeable. During that time (due to the race pace of other drivers such as Fernando Alonso) the hard compound suited the track and was very competitive. all right”
“For this reason, Gasly decided to switch to the hard tires early. I had Yuuki continue the second stint on the medium tires, and after confirming that the harder compound was working, Yuuki also switched to the hard tires.”
“But after the pit stop, Yuuki reported that there was something wrong with the rear of the car. We called him again and decided to change the tires once again (from hard to soft).”
Mr. Balestri only wrote that the cause was “currently being investigated within the team,” and avoided clarifying the details of the trouble.
As Tsunoda reported on the team radio, “The tires don’t fit!”
“When I accelerated out of the pit exit, I felt like I was wheel-spin on one side. I was
After the race, the stewards decided that Tsunoda in car No. 22 was reprimanded for a driving violation.
After changing the hard tires, Tsunoda stopped the machine on the side of the track, loosened his belt and tried to exit the cockpit. After that, he ran around the track with the belt loosened (not removed) and returned to the pit, which was a violation of regulations.
AlphaTauri was also investigated, as suspicions arose that the team had released it from the pits in an unsafe condition. However, the tires arrived without any problems and the machine was not in a dangerous condition, so the team concluded that there was no problem. It seems that the problem with the machine that Tsunoda felt was due to a problem with the differential.
It was a disappointing end for Tsunoda, as he had advanced the race in such a position that he was conscious of winning the prize. And due to the fifth reprimand, it is expected that he will be demoted 10 places on the grid in the next round, the Italian GP. I would like to pay attention to whether it is possible to bounce off the severe situation and show the results.
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team driver
Schedule/program schedule
| race | Free Practice / Qualifying | final | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Round 1 | Bahrain Grand Prix | March 18th (Friday) – 19th (Saturday) | March 20 (Sun) |
| Round 2 | Saudi Grand Prix | March 25 (Friday) – 26 (Saturday) | March 27 (Sun) |
| Round 3 | Australian Grand Prix | April 8 (Friday) – April 9 (Saturday) | April 10 (Sun) |
| Round 4 | Emilia Romagna GP | April 22 (Friday) – 23 (Saturday) | Sunday, April 24th |
| Round 5 | Miami Grand Prix | May 6th (Thursday) – 7th (Saturday) | May 8 (Sun) |
| Round 6 | Spanish Grand Prix | May 20th (Friday) – 21st (Saturday) | Sunday, May 22nd |
| Round 7 | Monaco Grand Prix | May 27th (Friday) – 28th (Saturday) | Sunday, May 29th |
| Round 8 | Azerbaijan Grand Prix | June 10th (Friday) – 11th (Saturday) | Sunday, June 12th |
| Round 9 | Canadian Grand Prix | June 17th (Friday) – 18th (Saturday) | Sunday, June 19th |
| Round 10 | British Grand Prix | July 1st (Friday) – 2nd (Saturday) | July 3 (Sun) |
| Round 11 | Austrian Grand Prix | July 8th (Friday) – 9th (Saturday) | Sunday, July 10th |
| Round 12 | French Grand Prix | July 22nd (Friday) – 23rd (Saturday) | Sunday, July 24th |
| Round 13 | Hungarian Grand Prix | July 29th (Friday) – 30th (Saturday) | July 31st (Sun) |
| Round 14 | Belgian Grand Prix | August 26th (Friday) – 27th (Saturday) | Sunday, August 28th |
| Round 15 | Dutch Grand Prix | September 2nd (Friday) – 3rd (Saturday) | September 4th (Sun) |
| Round 16 | Italian Grand Prix | September 9th (Friday) – 10th (Saturday) | Sunday, September 11th |
| Round 17 | Singapore Grand Prix | September 30th (Friday) – October 1st (Saturday) | Sunday, October 2nd |
| Round 18 | Japanese Grand Prix | October 7th (Friday) – 8th (Saturday) | October 9th (Sun) |
| Round 19 | US Grand Prix | October 21st (Friday) – 22nd (Saturday) | Sunday, October 23rd |
| Round 20 | Mexican Grand Prix | October 28th (Friday) – 29th (Saturday) | Sunday, October 30th |
| Round 21 | Sao Paulo Grand Prix | November 11th (Friday) – 12th (Saturday) | Sunday, November 13th |
| Round 22 | Abu Dhabi GP | November 18th (Friday) – 19th (Saturday) | Sunday, November 20th |