"It was a big shock" - AlphaTauri says its reliability issues is 'not how you want to start the season'

AlphaTauri team principal Franz Tost has claimed that the team’s reliability issues in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia came as a “shock” to them, considering their trouble-free run during pre-season testing. Speaking ahead of the Australian GP, Tost said:

“It was a big shock for us because we did tests in Barcelona as well as in Bahrain without any problems, did thousands of kilometres and now the season starts and in every race, we have real big reliability issues. In Bahrain the battery of the car of Pierre [Gasly] caught fire and in Saudi Arabia, we managed to lose two engines, and this is really a big shock for us, because as a result Yuki [Tsunoda] had to start from the back of the grid, and this is of course not how you want to start the season.”

After a promising run during pre-season testing, AlphaTauri’s season so far has gone south. While reliability has been a major concern, the team is also lacking the pace to compete within the top-10 regularly.

Meanwhile, as a result of the team’s reliability issues, Yuki Tsunoda has been forced to take his third power unit for the Australian GP, thereby exhausting his allocation for the entire season. The Japanese driver will have to incur grid penalties for any further changes.

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AlphaTauri expecting a better season from an “improved” Tsunoda

Franz Tost believes Yuki Tsunoda will fare much better in his second year in the sport after struggling for consistency during his rookie season last year. Tost says Tsunoda’s improvements were evident in his performances throughout the Australian GP weekend. Speaking at the FIA press conference, he said:

“Yuki [Tsunoda] improved a lot and we could also see yesterday, although he is here the first time, that he showed a very good performance, and he’s on a really good path, I must say. He is absolutely within schedule, and I expect a very good season from him especially then the second half. If we provide him with a fast and reliable car, and he is doing a really good job and we are happy with him.”

Tsunoda scored points for AlphaTauri on his debut but struggled for consistency throughout the rest of the season. While his race craft was always excellent, he more often failed to string together a decent weekend to get himself a better chance at scoring points during races.

To alleviate some of his struggles, Red Bull put him through a training program during the winter to better the Japanese driver ahead of the new season.