It seems like the silly season in Formula 1 is finally being resolved with the announcement of Valtteri Bottas joining Alfa Romeo replacing the retiring Kimi Raikkonen and George Russell joining the Mercedes F1 team partnering 7-time world champion. While all of this was going on, Red Bull's junior team AlphaTauri has confirmed that it will retain Pierre Gasly and rookie Yuki Tsunoda for the 2022 season. Gasly has been in top form at the Italian team, but the same cannot be said for the mercurial Japanese driver, Tsunoda who has been erratic. He was even shifted from the UK base to Italy to improve his performance.
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Gasly has been incredible since returning to AlphaTauri after he was downgraded from the Red Bull main team and replaced by Alex Albon in 2019. Albon himself couldn't retain his place in the team and now has become the Red Bull reserve driver, but many have a shot at partnering Bottas at Alfa Romeo. Gasly after his stellar 2020 season where he won the Italian GP at Monza was hopeful of promotion to Red Bull but in December Sergio Perez was announced as Max Verstappen's teammate.
Gasly has been one of the stand out drivers of the 2021 season
Gasly, however, has kept up his stellar form in the AlphaTauri and even last weekend managed to beat Charles Leclerc in the faster Ferrari for an impressive P4 at Zandvoort. He has largely had a handle over his mercurial teammate and has been the leader of the AlphaTauri team, so naturally, he was expecting a promotion but that again didn't happen as Red Bull has renewed with Perez for another year.
"I am very happy to be moving forward with Scuderia AlphaTauri for another season in Formula 1, especially after seeing the progress we have made as a team since I first joined in 2017. Seeing the performance we have shown so far this season, I think there are great things to achieve for the rest of this season and next year, especially with the upcoming changes to the championship in 2022," said the Frenchman.
"I'm very excited to see what we can accomplish in the new era of F1 and to keep working with the team as best as I can to bring us forward in the team standings. This year has been very successful so far and I believe we can work well together to do even better in 2022," he added.
Tsunoda who is also a graduate of the Red Bull driver academy had been touted as a prodigy and a future world champion by Red Bull's Helmut Marko. He hasn't set the grid on fire but instead has been off the pace when compared to Gasly and has crashed the car often in a cost cap era. Thankfully Red Bull continues to show faith in him and he gets another shot for 2022.
The 21-year-old Tsunoda has had a tough stint at AlphaTauri
"I'm excited to be staying with Scuderia AlphaTauri for a second season. It's an incredible opportunity and I'm so thankful to the team and Dr Marko for letting me continue to grow my experience in Formula 1," Tsunoda said.
"I have a very good relationship with Pierre, I have learned a lot from him already this year and his experience has helped me to keep developing my skills, so it's great to be continuing my F1 journey with him. Having recently moved out to Faenza, I am feeling very settled within the team and am looking forward to the upcoming season," the 21-year-old Japanese driver added.
With Gasly performing at the height of his powers, 2022 could likely be the last year we see him at AlphaTauri, but Tsunoda's fate could be decided on the way he develops. If he performs he will likely stay as he came with Honda's backing and if that doesn't pan out, he could be replaced by someone else from the Red Bull driver academy.
