mobilinanews (Italy) – Yuki Tsunoda’s successful debut at the Bahrain Grand Prix is still a byword. Honda and Red Bull can be proud of their racer. Now the AlphaTauri team boss is talking about Tsunoda.
Franz Tost, Team Principal AlphaTauri, said that Tsunoda was not only a young racer full of talents, but also very lucky. If the others are confused by the Covid-19 pandemic then Tsunoda is the opposite.
“This pandemic is a fortune for him. It accelerates the process to a stage like this,” said Tost, who was clearly proud of Tsunoda’s P9 finish at the Bahrain Grand Prix.
The lockdown policy and travel restrictions meant that Tsunoda had to stay in Italy. It was during this time that he used to fully get to know the ins and outs of F1 cars.
While familiarizing himself with the team’s technicians, the 20-year-old racer spends time learning the details and the F1 steering system with its various buttons.
He also learned car setup, various mapping variants and that all made him more integrated with cars and teams.
“It really helped him speed up the process. He loves to learn and is quick to understand. Now he’s merged with the team. He feels right at home. All the crew loves him,” Tost said.
Like Red Bull official Helmut Marko, Tost also believes Tsunoda has bright prospects in F1 if his willingness to learn remains the same. In its early days, it was precisely the willingness to learn that it was the most important.
And, Tsunoda had already shown it for several months at the team headquarters in Italy because he was locked down. Amazingly, Tsunoda had several laps following Fernando Alonso just to learn how his idol positioned the car in the corner area.
“After overtaking I practiced what I learned and the result was a significant difference. I felt bad overtaking but I thank Alonso for what I have learned,” said Tsunoda.
And, that is one of Tsunoda’s strengths in the middle of the lack of physical form that is too small in F1, with a height of 159 cm and a weight of 54.
“He is quick to learn. His instincts are natural and his skills are already at the top level. If he continues like this, a bright time in F1 is waiting,” said Tost.
And, his job at AlphaTauri and Marko at Red Bull to keep Tsunoda’s pace positive. Especially because in Japan now the ‘little boy’ has become a new hero. (rnp)
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