Breaking news

Formula 1

Tsunoda already contributing to AlphaTauri development

Formula 1 rookie Yuki Tsunoda is already making a valuable contribution to AlphaTauri's car development by raising new questions and ideas, according to technical chief Jody Egginton.

Luke Smith Oleg Karpov

Edited: Apr 14, 2021, 4:10 AM

Copy link

Share on Viber

Add as a preferred source

Yuki Tsunoda, AlphaTauri

Tsunoda became the latest member of Red Bull's young driver programme to reach F1 after making his grand prix debut in Bahrain at the end of last month, moving up from Formula 2.

Tsunoda impressed in his first race, charging through to ninth place to score two points for AlphaTauri with a series of impressive overtakes.

The team has previously spoken about the important role Tsunoda's teammate, Pierre Gasly, will play through 2021, leading its development direction thanks to his greater F1 experience.

AlphaTauri technical director Egginton said the balance of one experienced driver and one rookie left the team in a "different scenario" to many of its rivals, but that Tsunoda was already complementing Gasly well.

"Pierre is a solid reference back to last year, and he's able to tell us in detail what's changed, what's better, what's worse, so that's good," Egginton said.

"That combined with the correlation, it helps us potentially answer some of the questions Yuki might have. Because we'll say, 'okay, that's expected, that's not expected, we're going to work on this.' So it steadies the ship a little bit.

"At the same time, [Tsunoda is] also raising some questions, which are [like] 'OK, that's quite an interesting thought'. The way he drives the car is a little bit different to Pierre and that opens up some other questions.

"So it's a bit of a mix, really. The key point is that he's got the speed, and he has got the speed, to be able to contribute."

Read Also:

Tsunoda has enjoyed an accelerated rise through the ranks to reach F1, having been racing in Japan's national F4 championship just three years ago.

An impressive rookie season in F2 last year saw Tsunoda finish third in the championship and earn an F1 graduation that was aided by an extensive private testing programme.

Egginton was impressed by how Tsunoda took minor setbacks across his maiden grand prix weekend in his stride, proving his adaptability and willingness to learn.

"His speed was not in doubt from F2," Egginton said. "He deserves this shot. He's on a very steep learning curve, as with any young driver is coming into the Formula 1 world, but he's taking it step by step.

"He's absorbing a lot of information, and he's communicating well, and we're understanding what he wants from the car. He's working well with an engineering team. He's a quick learner.

"We had a few ups and downs [in Bahrain]. He's been very quick. We had a few little issues with the car, and he's taken that in his stride. It's frustrating for him as it is for everybody. If it wasn't frustrating for him, that would be a worry, actually. But he bounced back from it.

"It's really refreshing with the young guys in the team. I quite enjoy the challenge, and the team is good at it. Without being big headed, the team's good at working with young drivers.

"We're going to have ups and downs, but he's delivering and I think that's important because we're firmly in the midfield it appears, so it's good."

We want your opinion!

What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?

Take our 5 minute survey.

- The Motorsport.com Team

Read and post comments

Share Or Save This Story

Copy link

Share on Viber

Previous article Verstappen: I can be "even better" with F1 title calibre car

Next article Russell: Williams can focus on performance instead of survival

Top Comments

There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?

View More & Comment

Latest news

On this day: Fernando Alonso wins the world title, Michael Schumacher retires from F1

Formula 1

F1 Formula 1

Brazilian GP

11 min

On this day: Fernando Alonso wins the world title, Michael Schumacher retires from F1

Raul Fernandez still compromised after Indonesia finger injury: “I’m not at 100%”

MotoGP

MGP MotoGP

Australian GP

1 h

Raul Fernandez still compromised after Indonesia finger injury: “I’m not at 100%”

MotoGP can’t simply copy F1’s Drive to Survive success – Chase Carey

MotoGP

MGP MotoGP

Australian GP

1 h

MotoGP can’t simply copy F1’s Drive to Survive success – Chase Carey

Marc Marquez's mind games with Jorge Martin: "If you're fast, you don't need team orders"

MotoGP

MGP MotoGP

Australian GP

2 h

Marc Marquez's mind games with Jorge Martin: "If you're fast, you don't need team orders"

Feature

Discover prime content

How Kimi Antonelli levelled up his character to be F1 2026's world champion-elect

Formula 1

United States GP

By Filip Cleeren

How Kimi Antonelli levelled up his character to be F1 2026's world champion-elect

Why Oscar Piastri has struggled to show his best with this year's McLaren MCL40

Formula 1

By Jake Boxall-Legge

Why Oscar Piastri has struggled to show his best with this year's McLaren MCL40

How levelling the playing field isn’t antithetical to the principles of F1

Formula 1

By Pat Symonds

How levelling the playing field isn’t antithetical to the principles of F1

Lights, Camara, action: How Haas picked F1's latest rookie for 2027

Formula 1

Singapore GP

By Jake Boxall-Legge

Lights, Camara, action: How Haas picked F1's latest rookie for 2027

Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.

From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.

You have 2 options:

Become a subscriber.
Disable your adblocker.

Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here

Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page

Manage Alerts