The start of the season Alpha Tauri it's not one of those from to frame: only 2 points won by the team from Faenza. But what causes the most sensation is the difference in performance between Yuki tsunoda e Nick DeVries. The only top 10 finishes of the season were by the Japanese; moreover, in the races in which he didn't score points, he always finished close to the positions that counted.
De Vries at risk
The chapter of Dutch, however, is more complicated. In these first 5 races, he was unable to go beyond the 14th position obtained in Bahrain. The former FE champion could not find the feeling with his AT04. The car, per se, is not the one that stable expected, as also confirmed by the team principal Franz tost.
His words, dating back to the Saudi Arabian GP in Jeddah, in which he heavily accused his engineers explaining how he no longer trusted of them: “We were expecting a much more competitive car. In Bahrain we went into trouble, here the story seems a little different, I hope that at least with one car we can go to Q3. But we have to work hard to make the car faster, especially on the aero side. There are several programs under study at the moment, the engineers tell me we are making progress, but I don't trust them anymore, I just want to see the lap times, because that's the only thing that matters.".
Marko evaluates Ricciardo
This mix is ready to blurt out the Red Bull consultant Helmut Marko, or the one who directs the youth department of the Milton Keynes and AlphaTauri team. If his performance didn't convince him, he'd be ready to yield the seat of the Dutchman. The Austrian's ultimatum is clear: if no results are seen before the weekend in Spain, various options will be evaluated. The choice that is being considered, according to rumors reported by Motorsport.com, would be Daniel Ricciardo, third driver of Red Bull and of the Faenza team, great absentee of the 2023 season. Ricciardo would have already made the seat, in Faenza, in view of an imminent replacement. At the moment it's just rumors circulating in the paddock, but the Australian is increasingly at the center of the Austrian team's projects. And who knows we won't see him again in a car, perhaps with different results than those seen with McLaren.
ARTICLE BY FRANCESCO ORANDO
Source: Motorsport.com Italy
