It was a solid P8 result in qualifying at the Losail International Circuit from Alpha Tauri driver Yuki Tsunoda. After achieving a tenth place finish in FP3, Tsunoda was able to make a two-place improvement securing a top ten position for the team off the starting grid for the Qatar GP. The Japanese driver expressed his happiness with his qualifying session and also mentioned how crucial it was to qualify higher on the grid since the track will be difficult to overtake and move up positions.      

“I think today was a good Qualifying and I’m happy that I will be starting from P8 tomorrow. It was unfortunate that I had to sacrifice an additional set of Softs to get through Q1, which meant I didn’t have them for Q3, but I’m still really pleased with how today went,” stated Tsunoda.

“We think it’s going to be difficult to overtake in the race, so the start will be key, but the positive is that we’re all in the same position, as no one has driven here before.” 

“We’ll prepare for this as well as we can tonight, and we’ll see what happens tomorrow.”

Technical Director at Alpha Tauri Jody Egginton, praised the team as a whole across the board as they all worked diligently to make significant improvements from FP1 to the qualifying session. Egginton also commended Tsunoda for his strong qualifying result which will be a key asset for the team on race day.     

“The solid performance yesterday and the hard work put in by the engineers, mechanics and drivers overnight has provided another good step forward today,” replied Egginton.

“Both drivers have fully exploited this in what was a tight Qualifying today, resulting in very good grid positions for tomorrow’s race.”

 “Yuki has performed well here in Qatar, putting in a great Qualifying tonight and getting himself well into the top 10, which is positive.”

After Tsunoda missed out on scoring crucial points for the team at the Brazil GP, he will need to do his best to finish the race in the top ten or higher to help the team fight for fifth in the constructors’ championship against the Alpine team. 

Despite having both drivers Pierre Gasly and Tsunoda in the top ten fur the start of the Qatar GP,  Egginton knows it will be a close race but he feels up to the challenge ahead. 

“With the battle for fifth in the Constructors’ Championship being super close, and Alpine also getting both cars into Q3 here, we are expecting a tight race tomorrow, but are looking forward to the challenge.”