Yuki Tsunoda says the upcoming Austrian Grand Prix is likely to prove a difficult weekend for his AlphaTauri squad. Tsunoda and teammate Nyck de Vries both finished well outside the points last time out in Canada, and with Williams' Alex Albon finishing seventh in Montreal, AlphaTauri are now rooted to the bottom of the Constructors' Championship with just two points from eight rounds – both of which were scored by Tsunoda. The next round in Austria is the second Grand Prix of 2023 to follow the Sprint format, and Tsunoda noted that it would be imperative to qualify inside the top 10 in order to have any chance of points in the Sprint race. "It's hard, because we need a good qualifying, and because we have Sprint qualifying, the top eight [positions] will count [for points in the Sprint race] and we'll have to be around P9 at least in Sprint qualifying to score points," Tsunoda told the F1 Nation podcast.
AlphaTauri not suited to Red Bull Ring?
The Japanese added that he didn’t expect the Red Bull Ring to suit the characteristics of his AlphaTauri AT04. "In the race, I think it's going to be a little bit difficult to overtake there as well, so I wouldn't expect too much," said Tsunoda. "We definitely need a good car there, and I don't know if our car will suit well there, to be honest. "But we still have [some] updates, so why not? You never know what's going to happen."
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