Yuki Tsunoda on the 2021 and 2022 season: That's the main difference with me



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Yuki Tsunoda on the 2021 and 2022 season: That's the main difference with me

Yuki Tsunoda is pleased with the progress he has made this season. Of course, now he has more experience, which is certainly a big thing for a driver. What Tsunoda indicated as the main thing is that he is much calmer this season.

Japanese was also confused in many situations last season. "I think I've been able to use the experience from last year," he said for motorsport.com "I think knowing what I have to do, how I should approach every race weekend, is definitely an advantage compared to last year.

"At the same time, I experienced pretty much everything last year, the worst things, but was able to come back from there. So yeah. Most situations, I've been able to keep calm, not like last year. That's the main difference.

"Every race week, I know what I have to do. That's the main target, the main thing. Last year I didn't really know what to do, I just thought I had to perform well. But how? To perform well in FP1, every single session, it's like a different kind of testing.

Those things I was not thinking about."

AlphaTauri Formula 1 technical director on Yuki Tsunoda

AlphaTauri Formula 1 technical director Jody Egginton is satisfied with Tsunoda's thinking. It seems that the Japanese is now more specific in what he wants.

His visions are much clearer and the progress is obvious. "He's developing and he's got a good relationship with his engineers," said Egginton. "I sit down and talk with him, and he's forming an opinion of what he wants on the car.

Which is good stuff, because it means he's starting to click and he's got a view on it." Tsunoda gets the most out of the car he has. "I'm quite happy with what I've done, just extracting performance out of the car," Tsunoda said.

"I had a lot of reliability issues, as a team I would say. In Saudi Arabia, for example, I didn't drive FP3, qualifying or the race. "In Bahrain I lost the FP3 session. Pierre also lost FP3 in Barcelona. Also, I was running P7 or P6 in Azerbaijan." Although of course there were many negative things, Tsunoda is still happy.

"Lots of things happened, but overall, I'm still happy with what I've done," said Tsunoda. "I think to me and Pierre, there's not much difference in terms of points. Considering what I lost in Saudi and Azerbaijan, it should be aligned. Yeah, I'm happy."