AlphaTauri confirm Pierre Gasly, 25, and Yuki Tsunoda, 21, will lead the team into F1's new era of regulations; Gasly had hoped for another chance at Red Bull before they re-signed Sergio Perez
Tuesday 7 September 2021 08:54, UK
Pierre Gasly and Yuki Tsunoda will remain with AlphaTauri for the 2022 season.
"Consistency and stability are crucial heading into the new era of F1," said Red Bull's sister outfit as they confirmed their young line-up amid a bumper week of driver moves in the sport.
Gasly has driven for the team, formerly known as Toro Rosso, for five seasons - albeit with a brief spell as Max Verstappen's team-mate at Red Bull in between - while Tsunoda joined AlphaTauri as an F1 rookie this year.
Gasly, a shock F1 race winner a year ago in Monza, had hoped for a re-promotion to Red Bull, who opted to retain Sergio Perez.
"I am confident there's more to come and this is why we are excited to have him with us for another season," said team boss Franz Tost on Gasly, who is enjoying another sparkling season.
"Furthermore, he is using his experience in F1 to help Yuki with his development."
Despite a strong start to his debut season, Tsunoda has scored only 18 points to Gasly's 66 and has been out-qualified in every round.
Tost added: "This year we have seen that the positive relationship between the two, made of a competitiveness on-track and a friendship off-track, has proven effective for the team.
"Yuki has joined the team as a rookie and is continuing to learn every day, the feedback from the engineers shows that he is absorbing all the information given to him and improving.
"As a rookie, Yuki is only at the beginning of this journey, so it's good that he can continue what we've started together. It's great for us to be securing our driver line-up so early in the season, so we can now focus on the rest of 2021, where we're in a tough fight in the midfield pack."
AlphaTauri are currently sixth in the constructors' standings, just behind Alpine.
While AlphaTauri's announcement is in danger of being overshadowed this week - with George Russell set to be confirmed at Mercedes as early on Tuesday - it has filled out the 2022 grid.
It also means that there is only one team - discounting Aston Martin who are almost certain to retain Sebastian Vettel and Lance Stroll - who don't have any drivers signed up for next season, Williams.
