Marko hints at no change at AlphaTauri for 2023

 Dr Helmut Marko has indicated that AlphaTauri will not change its driver pairing in 2023 – much to the displeasure of the Red Bull Juniors.

Pierre Gasly has a contract with Red Bull’s sister team until 2023, while Yuki Tsunoda’s contract would end after the 2022 season.

What will happen to the Alpha Tauri drivers?

Gasly drove his rookie season for Torro Rosso (now AlphaTauri) in 2018 and was promoted to leading team Red Bull in 2019. After some unfavourable race results, Red Bull swapped him halfway through the season with Alex Albon, who now drives for Williams.

Gasly has explained that his goal is to return to Red Bull on several occasions.

However, with the contract extension of Sergio Perez for two more years, this hope has vanished into thin air.

Dr Helmut Marko admitted in an interview with Formel1.de that Red Bull did not decide behind Gasly’s back:

“Before the signing, of course, I spoke to Gasly, explained the situation to him and, yes, we’ll just have to see what happens with Gasly after ’23.”

However, Marko also sees no alternative team for the Frenchman.

“I don’t think there is any alternative for him at the moment that would be significantly better than AlphaTauri.”

Will Tsunoda and Gasly stay with AlphaTauri?

The start of the 2022 season was not easy for the Italian team. There were reliability problems with the Red Bull Powertrains, and in general, the car doesn’t seem to be fine-tuned yet.

Nevertheless: Yuki Tsunoda is currently 12th in the standings with 11 points. Pierre Gasly is close behind in 14th place with 6 points.

AlphaTauri is 2 points ahead of Haas in 7th place with a total of 17 points.

Dr Marko, however, hints that the driver pairing will remain for 2023.

“It’s safe to assume that the current drivers are set.

“But, I mean, we still have with coronavirus buzzing in the room, so that means replacement drivers can come.

“I don’t hope anyone gets hurt, but they’ll [RB Junior drivers] all have to wait another year.”

This is, unfortunately, bad news for the Red Bull Junior drivers like Liam Lawson, Jüri Vips and Jehan Daruvala. They are currently shaking up Formula 2.

If not even last season’s Formula 2 winner Oscar Piastri, part of the Alpine Driver Academy, gets a seat on the current grid, it will be even harder for the Red Bull Juniors. Marko also recognises:

“You can see with Alpine how hard they are struggling with Piastri.”

AlphaTauri’s official confirmation is still pending, but it seems that Gasly and Tsunoda will remain in Formula 1 until at least the end of 2023.

Headline Image Credit: Peter Fox via Getty Images