Alpha Tauri launch new car, Pierre Gasly expects 'season full of surprises'

Pierre Gasly says he expects a «season full of surprises» as his Alpha Tauri team launched their 2022 car.

The Frenchman, who won the 2020 Italian Grand Prix, is joined again by Japanese Yuki Tsunoda and has high hopes for Red Bull's second team.

Gasly said: «I hope this is a year when I can fight at the very front, to finish regularly in the top five and even higher if the car is good enough.

»The team are quite pleased with the work they have done."

The new Alpha Tauri was unveiled at an online-only launch, with no opportunities for the media to ask questions.

Gasly's remarks, and those of all other senior figures, were published in a team statement.

The new car was released only in the form of digital renders, which are unlikely to represent accurately how it will appear at pre-season testing next week or at the start of the season next month.

It has a similar blue and white colour scheme to last year, with slight revisions.

The car has been designed to meet F1's all-new technical regulations, which completely redefine how a grand prix car works with the aim of closing up the field and making the racing more exciting.

There are also new, larger, lower-profile, more durable tyres fitted to bigger wheels of 18 inches in diameter rather than 13.

The images released by Alpha Tauri show very squared off side-pod openings and narrow rear bodywork sweeping heavily downwards in a similar fashion to the McLaren revealed last week, with a view to maximising downforce at the rear.

Gasly, who finished ninth in the championship last year with a best result of third place in Azerbaijan, said: «Aesthetically (the rules are) a big change. It also makes the cars heavier and affects the way they drive, and I think it adds yet another element and