Gasly aiming to finish AlphaTauri career on a high

Alpine-bound Pierre Gasly says he is determined to end his time with AlphaTauri on a high note as the 2022 FIA Formula 1 season reaches the final four rounds.

Round 19 of the 22-race calendar takes the championship to Austin, Texas, where Gasly has not enjoyed huge success.

“I enjoy the circuit itself,” the Frenchman said, adding: “The whole first sector is hyper quick with a real rhythm to it.”

“I want to end this season, my last four with Scuderia AlphaTauri, on a high note, even if my past record at COTA is nothing special,” the 26-year-old stated.

Gasly failed to finish the 2021 race due to a mechanical failure and has not scored a single point in his three visits to Austin.

However, his team mate Yuki Tsuonda scored on his COTA debut in 2021, with a ninth-place finish and the Japanese driver needs a similar result this year, as the 22-year-old seeks to end his run of 12 pointless races.

Tsunoda, who will remain with AlphaTauri in 2023, explained: “I will take my usual approach of building up the pace gradually through the race week.”

The Japanese added: “The track is quite bumpy and changing the car set-up to make it better over the bumps is not the way you want to go for performance, so we will need to fin something in between.”

AlphaTauri have picked up just seven points since the summer break and are currently ninth in the constructors’ standings, facing their worst finish since 2018 when the team was known as Toro Rosso.