22/10/2023
NEWS STORY
Yuki Tsunoda: "It was a good race for me and I'm happy. To score points here three times in a row is amazing, especially in front of the Austin fans.
"A great job and congratulations to the team. Everyone back at the factory, in Faenza and Bicester, and trackside, are working very hard, and it's nice to see that the upgrades they deliver seem to be working well, and we're closing the gap to fight for P10. We got slightly lucky with Fernando (Alonso) in the end, but we maximised the performance because if we weren't driving there, we wouldn't have been able to benefit and score points. At first, I got a heart attack when the team called me in to box, because I thought there was an issue, but they told me we were going for the fastest lap on the soft tyre. It was my first experience going for the fastest lap in the final lap of the race, and I really enjoyed it, it was thrilling. Now we'll refocus and continue to carry this momentum into the final races of this season."
Daniel Ricciardo: "Texas hasn't been too kind. At the start, we were doing well with our plan, but the problem was once the cars with blue flags came up behind us, we lost too much. We seemed to struggle in traffic and then picked up some damage later on, so after that, we lacked pace. On the medium compound, we were doing the same lap times as Yuki, but because I was on a one-stop, there was a bit more tyre management going on for me. Physically, I feel better today than yesterday, so the Sprint race was a good warmup for the Grand Prix. I got more race mileage, and there's a lot to learn from this race, so now it's full attack for Mexico."
Jody Egginton (Technical Director): "Today's race has been a busy one, but we achieved the objective of scoring points, and there was not much left on the table, so we are satisfied. Yuki ran a very good first stint, consuming his tyres well and not letting Gasly get too far ahead. His middle stint on the hard compound was a little more difficult, but again, he managed his tyres well. Then, after the second stop back to the medium compound, it was a case of going flat out to try to keep in touch with the Aston Martins, who were quicker in this phase of the race. Once we had the gap to Albon, the pit wall made a very good call to try to go for the fastest lap and grab the extra point on offer, which was a nice bonus today. Daniel's race was more difficult later on, but he also put in a very well-managed first stint, opening up strategy options for him. However, soon after his first stop, he picked up damage to brake duct parts, resulting in a significant loss of aero load and aero balance, meaning he was unable to run at the pace he was capable of and fell back into the chasing pack. Later on, we took the gamble to stop and try to resolve the issue in case of a late race Safety Car. Although we improved the car balance at the stop, the race finished without incidents, providing no opportunity to move him forward. Overall, the car has worked quite well here in Austin, and we have been in the fight for and scored points, which is a positive. However, we need to continue to execute solid weekends, to be able to capitalise on this in the coming races, so there is a lot to still work on. With the event being the first of three Grand Prix weekends, there will be a very intense period of detailed analysis to ensure we take the relevant learning into next weekend's race in Mexico."
Franz Tost (Team Principal): "Back into the points, so today was good. We decided to split the strategy between the two cars. Yuki was out for a two-stop strategy, while Daniel was for a one-stop. Both cars started on a new set of medium tyres. Yuki lost one position to Zhou in the first lap, but could overtake him in the second lap, and then was always near the top ten. He had good speed, so we extended his first stint, pitting him on lap 17 and switching to the new hard compound. He struggled a little, complaining about understeer, so we didn't stay out too long and brought him in to change to the new medium tyre. This was also to keep Alonso behind us, which worked well. After the pitstop, Yuki came out in front of him, but the Aston Martins had too much speed and therefore, both Alonso and Stroll could overtake Yuki, who fell back to P11. Then, with Alonso retiring, Yuki moved up to P10. As Yuki was around 20 seconds ahead of Albon, the team decided to call him in for new soft tyres. He achieved the fastest lap, which meant the team scored two points. It's important because in the last races, we've been unlucky and didn't score any. As for Daniel, in the middle of the first stint he had a problem with the front left brake duct which broke, affecting the aerodynamics heavily, and losing a lot of downforce. He then couldn't perform well because the car was no longer balanced. We called him in for new tyres in case of a Safety Car, but unfortunately, it didn't happen. I have to apologise to Daniel because of this car failure, which meant he couldn't show a better performance. I'm convinced in Mexico he will come back, and hopefully, the car will be reliable, allowing him to perform a strong qualifying and good race. The upgrades that we are introducing seem to work well. The aero department did a good job as the new floor we had on the car here improved the performance, so well done to the whole team, and we hope we can continue at this level until the end of the season. Being in a triple header, it was quite important for everyone to get these two points, as they give the team an additional push and motivation for the next races."