Juki Konoda surprised his late boss with the best starting position of his career during qualifying in Abu Dhabi. For seventh place, the perfect parting gift, he should deliver another standout performance.
Serious development at Alpha Tauri even came down to the final race of the weekend. At the beginning of the year, the Faenza team, which had improved a lot at the beginning of the year, came within 7 points of Williams in 8th place in the Constructors’ Championship, and since it would be important for them to get 7th overall, which is worth an additional $9 million, they decided Manufacturing of a modified floor plate is planned for next year already, to see if this will also improve their chances.
Juki Konoda benefited greatly from this development, as he finished sixth in Abu Dhabi during Saturday’s qualifying session. This represents the best rating of his career to date.
“Sixth place is great. But it won’t be easy because there are two fast cars behind us. We have to put everything together. But the team has done a great job so far. It wasn’t easy because we suffered a lot yesterday. But the situation has become much better, I feel the car has become Much better”.
The Japanese said.
Celebrating Yuki P6 Quali Result 🔥 #AbuDhabiGP pic.twitter.com/FcZMTwJewd
– Scuderia AlphaTauri (@AlphaTauriF1) November 25, 2023
He stressed that his team has developed at a good pace, and in the meantime he feels that it has become a better competitor. “Overall, I was very balanced this year. I had some engine change penalties out of necessity, and there were some things that didn’t go smoothly. But actually my performance was quite balanced. I was confident in the last races, and in Abu Dhabi it went well.” In recent years. Simply put, it has become more confident, and the car is rising with new developments. This has been the key.
If the grid is the final result of the race, AlphaTauri will reach the finish line. Sixth place would give Konoda 8 points, and with Williams outside the top 10, it would mean overtaking. But as the Japanese also pointed out, it will be very difficult to maintain this position in the race, with competitors such as Sergio Perez, Lewis Hamilton or Carlos Sainz behind him, and there is a good chance of catching up with him. .
Konoda will do his best to give the perfect farewell gift to his team boss, Franz Tost, as he completes the last Formula 1 race weekend of his career. “One hundred percent. I hope you are satisfied so far. We start from sixth place and we know that we have to finish the season in sixth or seventh place.”
“Seventh place in the tournament would be the best gift for him. It’s not impossible. I want to see him happy. Without him, I wouldn’t have improved as much as the competitor. So I would like to express my appreciation in the form of a result. I will do my best.”
Juki Konoda (Photo: AlphaTauri)Realistically, AlphaTauri’s chances are not the best. Konoda will also need help from Daniel Ricciardo, who started 15th. He should score points too. However, the Australian Saturday did not go well, and the team still does not understand why. “The car was slow now. We had problems in the third free practice. Even with the new set of tires, I couldn’t improve my time in Q1 from Q2. I didn’t feel like there was anything fundamentally wrong, but we were just slow. It’s a mystery.” Ricardo said.
“We thought we could get into Q3 with our car. Jockey moved forward, we fell back. But we didn’t try anything crazy. Our setups were quite similar. That’s why I feel like it’s a mystery. A race car is good one day, not the next. “Hopefully Sunday will be good again.” The eight-time race winner was confident.
