AlphaTauri
Nyck de Vries
“I didn’t do a good enough job today. I lost most of my momentum at the start and restart, so I got stuck in traffic. It’s difficult to regain that rhythm and make up the positions, especially when you’re caught in a DRS train. I didn’t attack enough and struggled to find the balance between managing the tyres well and pushing, so I was unable to get them to the right temperature. In the end, when I was in clean air chasing Zhou, my pace was very strong and consistent. Generally, it was a step up from Bahrain, so that’s a positive. We definitely need to keep going and continue to push.”
Yuki Tsunoda
“I ended the race in P11, it’s frustrating to lose the position with only four laps to go. The team did a really great job, everything went perfectly. The pace on the medium tyre was very strong and it improved compared to qualifying. I’m happy with what the team and I achieved together, but at the same time, I’m disappointed we didn’t reach the points in the end. We’ll come back stronger with updates in Melbourne, so we are already fully focussed on the next race, where we will do our best to maximise our performance. We’ll continue to work hard to be able to fight at the top of the midfield and start scoring points consistently.”
Jody Egginton, technical director
“Both drivers delivered a solid race putting in consistent lap times tonight. The strategy was good, and the double stack pitstop under the Safety Car worked well as we gained track position. We achieved this as both drivers managed the medium tyre very well, meaning we could extend the first stint and not lose time to our midfield competitors, who stopped for the hard compound earlier. This strategy, together with the Safety Car, put Yuki into the fight for the final points positions tonight. Although Yuki put up a good fight for eighth, the Alpines were quicker and he couldn’t keep them behind for long. However, he was able to fight with Magnussen for P10 for most of the final stint, defending from consistent pressure and only losing out in the last laps for the final point, finishing P11. We weren’t able to move Nyck into the points with the strategy, but he made some progress from his starting position, had some good battles, and was putting in solid lap times on both compounds tonight. It’s frustrating to miss out on a point, but there were positives to take from the drivers and team’s performance tonight. We’re now looking forward to the planned aero developments and we trust they will improve our performance in the upcoming events.”
