Scuderia AlphaTauri hopes to be able to make some progress over the Singapore’s weekend by bringing a new update package. The Italian-based squad at the moment is sitting last in the constructors’ standings, having scored only three points.
The updates will be installed on Yuki Tsunoda’s car. The Japanese driver explained what they will mainly consist of and how much the feedback from Lawson and Ricciardo has been helpful in their quest to improve.
We must remember that at the moment the Australian driver for a wrist injury following an incident during the free practice of the Dutch GP is replaced by reserve driver Liam Lawson. The Aussie and Kiwi drivers have combined to help the team out on and off the track.
“We have a lot of upgrades into this grand prix,” says Tsunoda. “We’re hoping [for] one of the biggest, because we’re bringing a lot of upgrades from aero side as well, like, this is the main part we working on so hard to increase the performance, and a couple of bits in the mechanical side, but mainly from aero.
“We know that we’re lacking support from the rear, especially feedback from Daniel and Liam.”
Photo credit: RedBull.com
The Japanese driver says he has already noticed some positive changes during his work at the simulator, compared to the package brought earlier to Silverstone, which on the track did not show the expected steps forward. In general, Tsunoda appears very optimistic, as he declares:
“In the simulator, already I felt more different, more different compared to Silverstone. This time, I can see, I can feel that little bit of characteristic change.
“Still kind of similar direction [to] what we have now, but kind of on top of a bit more support from the rear in entry, where we were lacking” – explains the Japanese driver – “So obviously it’s similar, it’s hard to feel the clear difference. Obviously, the racetrack has a lot more different things going on, so we have to check on that.
“But so far, we’re in a good direction and lap time gain was much more than what I had in Silverstone simulator, so pretty big optimism.”
