F1 News
Tsunoda after contract extension: 'Am surprised I'm staying next year'
- GPblog.com
Yuki Tsunoda just like Pierre Gasly was told this week that his contract with AlphaTauri will be extended by one year. So AlphaTauri also knows that next season it will start with the same drivers at 2022, a new period in F1. The young Japanese driver was however surprised about his contract extension.
Speaking to Motorsport.com Tsunoda says he didn't see his contract extension coming, mainly because of his own performance this season.
"For my part, I was a little surprised that I'm staying next year. So first of all thank you to the team. I kept crashing and spending a lot of money for the team. I was not finishing the first half of the season in a good way. Especially in Hungary, when I went into the wall in VT1 and ruined a whole session, almost two sessions."
Tost and Marko expect constant results
This, then, was a big reason why Tsunoda was surprised when he heard that he will also be allowed to drive an AlphaTauri next year. The AlphaTauri driver has proved anything but consistent so far this season.
"For Franz [Tost, team boss] and Helmut [Marko of Red Bull] you need a more consistent result, and also discipline in the sessions. I couldn't improve through the first half of the season, and that's the reason I was surprised."
Where Tsunoda started his first season in Formula One with high expectations, those expectations have not materialised so far. The Japanese driver is still searching for consistency and for the time being is nowhere near teammate Gasly. It will be a learning process for the time being.