Yuki Tsunoda feels that Daniel Ricciardo has provided him with “a really good reference driver” after moving to AlphaTauri. The Australian has certainly a lot of experience collected throughout his Formula 1 career, representing a great reference point for a young driver willing to learn and soak up advice.
The Japanese driver states how Riccardo showed him a different driving style and how his calm and positive temperament, so different from Tsunoda’s one, stormy and stubborn, is a source of example.
“He’s giving good feedback from his past experiences. His team is happy with his feedback, and I’m learning from him quite a lot of things, especially how he behaves towards the team. It’s quite different.
“He is quite the opposite of me, which I want to fix, so at least for that, he’s a really good reference driver, and he’s given positivity to the team.”
The character of the two also pours onto the track: Tsunoda has an aggressive driving style, on the other one Ricciardo has quite a smooth one. But the young AlphaTauri driver thinks the differences can be a good thing, as he explains:
“Our driving style is quite different, and what we require from the car is different, which is a good thing.
“I have good options, it’s good to see a different driving style to give me other options to go even faster.”
Photo Credit: Scuderia AlphaTauri
In fact, we remember that Ricciardo replaced Nyck de Vries at AlphaTauri when the season has already begun and after an initial two-race stint before the summer break he broke a bone in his left hand which ruled him out for five Grands Prix. The Australian then returned for the final five races in which Tsunoda out-qualified and finished ahead of him on three occasions.
The comparison with Ricciardo has proved to be very useful during the current season but Tsunoda says he hadn’t felt the need to seek advice because he already felt comfortable with the car. However, he hasn’t ruled out trying out a different style next year if the car characteristics are different.
“I’ve not tried because I know how to drive this year’s car fast, and how to make the car fast,” said Tsunoda. “It worked for me, I’ve not had to change.
“For next year’s car, I don’t know how it’s going to be. It depends on how it behaves, so for me, it’s about the car’s behavior to maximise the performance, rather than just sticking to my driving style.
“If the car requires a different driving style compared to this year, I will try to adapt, and see how it goes.”
