27-year-old ‘late braker’ has now caused an ‘endemic’ problem at AlphaTauri

Follow us on Google Discover

Pierre Gasly might have left AlphaTauri more than a year ago now, but he may have created a problem at the team that still exists today.

After spending years as part of the Red Bull family, Pierre Gasly made the switch to Alpine at the start of the 2023 season.

However, speaking on The Race Podcast, journalist Ben Anderson believes that the Frenchman’s influence is still being felt within the team.

AlphaTauri’s existence – or as they were once known Toro Rosso – in Formula 1 has always been slightly puzzling.

After buying Minardi, the team was designed to give Red Bull’s most talented young drivers the chance to adapt to life in Formula 1 before moving on to the senior team.

They’ve produced some moments of unexpected brilliance, with Sebastian Vettel and Gasly winning two remarkable races at Monza.

However, Red Bull hiring Sergio Perez as Max Verstappen’s teammate after a flurry of failed promotions and now being linked with replacing the Mexican with Daniel Ricciardo next year suggests there’s a problem with the pipeline.

That problem may have inadvertently been created by Gasly at AlphaTauri due to his driving style.

After returning to the team after a difficult spell at Red Bull, he was the senior driver and led the development of the car.

That in turn has influenced Yuki Tsunoda and may have caused a bigger issue…

Gasly may have created ‘endemic’ problem at AlphaTauri

Speaking about the 27-year-old, Ben Anderson said: “One of the things that undid [Pierre] Gasly at Red Bull was this natural desire to be the last of the late brakers and ask too much of the car at the early part of the corner.

Edd Straw: “He would regularly brake later than [Max] Verstappen and then was under-rotated mid-corner and interpreted that as poor traction at exit because the car was under-rotated.”

Anderson: “Exactly, so you can see how that might have become endemic at the sister team as Gasly has gone there to be the team leader and then [Yuki] Tsunoda has come in under him and learned from him.

“And so [Daniel] Ricciardo giving them a different direction, I mean [Christian] Horner’s talked about that at the end of last season.

“How Ricciardo’s experience had given AlphaTauri the direction that’s so important, something they can really focus on building the car around.”

Gasly is now plying his trade at Alpine and Tsunoda and Ricciardo will be tasked with fixing any long-term problem the 27-year-old has caused at AlphaTauri.

Tsunoda and his old teammate do have very similar driving styles and so it’s no surprise that the team leaned into that with their development.

However, Ricciardo’s experience will be invaluable in leading them in the right direction.

It may see Tsunoda drop off slightly at the beginning of the year if they have made changes, but it should benefit him in the long run.