Pierre Gasly "ready" to take on AlphaTauri team leader responsibility

AlphaTauri

Gasly "ready" to take on AlphaTauri team leader responsibility

AlphaTauri launched the AT02 on Friday morning

Sam Hall

Friday 19 February 2021 16:35

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Pierre Gasly believes he is ready to take on the role of 'team leader' at AlphaTauri after launching the AT02 alongside rookie team-mate Yuki Tsunoda.

Gasly is entering his third full season of Formula 1 racing after making his debut with six grands prix remaining of the 2017 campaign.

The Frenchman has spent most of his time in F1 with AlphaTauri/Toro Rosso, with his only break being when he contested the first half of 2019 with Red Bull.

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For the first time in his relatively short career, Gasly will be the more experienced driver at his team - with 20-year-old Japanese driver Tsunoda replacing Daniil Kvyat for the coming season.

“Of course, Yuki’s arrival means I will have more responsibility within the team and I’m ready to take on the role of team leader," said Gasly.

"However, he is a very quick driver and he will help us move the team forward. I know Yuki, he is a competitive guy and showed what he can do in F2, that’s why he was promoted to F1 after just one year.

"We will work together to achieve that. He lacks experience, so it won’t always be easy for him, but I think he is talented and it will also be up to me and the team to lead the way."

Last year 25-year-old Gasly made a name for himself when he won his maiden F1 race by taking the chequered flag in the Italian Grand Prix.

It was only the team's second victory since it entered F1 in 2006 after Sebastian Vettel's win two years later, also at Monza.

Despite his new-found responsibility, Gasly remains adamant his approach to driving will remain unchanged.

"His [Tsunoda's] arrival doesn’t really change my approach, which will be the same as last year, when we got the most out of what we had to work with at pretty much all the grand prix, apart from one or two," added Gasly.

"So, we must keep going with the same philosophy, as I really believe last year was the team’s best in terms of the way it worked, the development, the performance and in the way it managed the race weekends.

"I think that goes for me, too, and we just have to keep going like this to try and do a little bit better than we did last year.”