British F1 Grand Prix: AlphaTauri in survival mode after extensive practice damage

AlphaTauri, Britain, 2022 — Photo: © LAT Images

British Grand Prix

AlphaTauri in survival mode after extensive practice damage

Neither driver broke into the top 15

Ewan Gale

Friday 1 July 2022 20:40

AlphaTauri chief race engineer Jonathan Eddolls has revealed the team was left to survive after both cars suffered "extensive damage" during British Grand Prix practice.

Yuki Tsunoda and Pierre Gasly finished second practice at Silverstone down in 16th and 18th respectively, with both drivers complaining about a lack of grip throughout the hour-long session.

The concerns were confirmed when each driver returned to the garage with damage to aerodynamic components, explaining the lack of performance from the AT03.

Article continues under video

"In FP2 we struggled with both cars in terms of overall grip and balance - neither driver was happy, and we could see some issues in the data," said Eddolls.

"These issues were confirmed when the cars came back to the garage with extensive damage to various aero components.

"We were able to survive and keep the cars on track, but the performance was far from where we were expecting and where it should be.

"We have a lot of work ahead of us to confirm the reasons for this and to make the relevant changes for tomorrow."

British GP rain forecast places importance on FP3

With rain hampering preparations in first practice and further mixed weather set to spice up qualifying on Saturday, Eddolls is aware AlphaTauri must nail final practice in order to provide its drivers with confidence ahead of the grand prix.

"Currently, it’s looking like the weather could be mixed, so potentially we have completed all of the possible dry running we will get ahead of qualifying and the race," explained Eddolls.

"We, therefore, need to put everything together and focus on supplying the drivers with a more competitive car from FP3 onwards.”