Yuki Tsunoda says he’s been surprised by AlphaTauri’s progress of late following the F1 team’s introduction at the US Grand Prix of a significant upgrade package, and he insists the Faenza squad is now a “dark horse” in the field.
Up until Austin, AlphaTauri had only scored four top-ten finishes, the best of which was substitute Liam Lawson’s run to ninth in Singapore.
But the team scored three times more points in the last three events that it did all season, thanks in large part to a series of updates implemented on its car at The Circuit of the Americas last month and which included a new floor, revised engine cover bodywork and suspension and chassis geometry changes that have increase downforce.
The progress - validated by Daniel Riccardo’s impressive fourth-place result in qualifying in Mexico City and by the team’s haul of points in the last three races - has propelled AlphaTauri from dead last in F1’s Constructors’ standings to P8 and awarded it a legitimate chance at catching Williams in P7.
“It's a big surprise,” acknowledged Tsunoda. “I think we're right now a dark horse, especially compared to our other competitors. So, I think it's good.
“So far, we are scoring points three races in a row. So, a very good rhythm.
“We need to just keep doing like this for the rest of the races. Now we are closer to P7 in the teams' championship. I think it’s possible, and we will do our best.”
©AlphaTauri
Last weekend in Brazil, Tsunoda and Ricciardo were left stranded in Q1 on Friday. But the pair qualified among the top 8 in Saturday’s sprint and finished the afternoon event respectively P6 and P9, a result that augured for a reasonably good Sunday.
Unfortunately, Ricciardo’s rear wing was damaged amid the commotion that unfolded during the race’s first start, which forced the Aussie to launch his race from the pitlane on the restart, which hindered his prospects thereafter.
Tsunoda however battled his way into the top ten and profited from a few retirements to conclude his day P9.
But it had been a hairy restart for the Japanese driver who ran wide at Turn 13 and put a wheel on the grass, almost crashing himself into retirement.
“Yeah that was a big mistake,” he conceded. “So yeah it was a bit scary. I actually, I shit my pants! Luckily I didn’t expect a DNF.”
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