Yuki Tsunoda has thanked AlphaTauri after a strong weekend at the Styrian Grand Prix saw him finish in 10th place. The Japanese driver had some difficult races during the early stages of the 2021 F1 season, resulting in the team making the decision to move him from the UK to Italy so that boss Franz Tost could more closely monitor the 21-year-old. This so far appears to have paid off on track as well as off, with Tsunoda left feeling positive following the race in Austria. "It’s a good step up from last week and I’m happy to be finishing in the points," Tsunoda said in a team statement after the Grand Prix. "I want to say thank you to the team, we’ve put in a lot of work over the last few weeks, so to be in the top 10 is really positive. "I think potentially there was the opportunity to even finish in P8 or P9, but we just need to analyse everything and work hard ahead of next week. I believe this has been my most consistent weekend so far and I have to say overall I am happy." Whilst Tsunoda had a solid result, his teammate Pierre Gasly wasn't so lucky. The Frenchman was forced to retire from the race after sustaining damage during a first-lap incident with Charles Leclerc. Tsunoda is hoping that the whole team can fare better when the second of two back-to-back races at the Red Bull Ring happens this weekend. "It was a real shame for Pierre today, but the pace of the car is definitely there, so we just need to put it all together next week," the young driver said. "I’ve got some cool activities planned with AlphaTauri and Red Bull over the next few days and then we’ll start preparing for the second race here in Austria."
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