Yuki Tsunoda admits AlphaTauri departure long overdue

Yuki Tsunoda

Tsunoda admits AlphaTauri departure long overdue

Yuki Tsunoda has welcomed a big change in the future direction of AlphaTauri

Dan McCarthy

Thursday 29 June 2023 22:42

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Yuki Tsunoda believes AlphaTauri's decision to rebrand and become closer to Red Bull is a good one and believes it is long overdue.

This week, adviser Helmut Marko says the team will no longer be called AlphaTauri, promising a big shake-up to the team's direction and personnel.

Next year, they will have a new team principal in Laurent Mekies while outgoing FIA general secretary Peter Bayer will become the CEO of the yet-to-be-renamed squad.

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They are hoping to have a partnership similar to that of Red Bull and Toro Rosso which ended in 2019.

Red Bull shakeup

Tsunoda, whose seat is not yet secure for next season, has welcomed the change and believes it will have a very positive impact on the junior team.

Tsunoda is currently driving in the Red Bull "stable"

“I think it’s a good thing anyway having a lot more connection between Red Bull and AlphaTauri, probably it should be like that from probably three years ago," he told RaceFans.net. "But anyway I’m feeling optimistic, more, stronger connection between Red Bull should be better overall.

"Probably Helmut thought that we need to change something. I think he gave us a chance, one more year and it didn’t improve much.”

AlphaTauri lost Pierre Gasly to Alpine in the summer and he was replaced by rookie Dutchman Nyck de Vries, who has struggled to make an impact in his short time with the team.

Tsunoda is the de facto team leader but he has only been able to score points in two of eight races so far in 2023, finishing tenth in both the Australian and Azerbaijan Grands Prix.

The team's best finish to a season came in 2021 as they ended the year sixth while they grabbed their maiden win a year earlier as Gasly won a madcap Italian Grand Prix.