F1’s final three races of 2024 are on the horizon, with drivers eying a strong finish to their campaign before recharging for the new season. Yuki Tsunoda too, took care of non-F1 related activities in the break between the Sao Paulo GP and the Las Vegas GP, which takes place this weekend.
The RB driver revealed a few weeks ago that he would move to Milan in Italy, to permanently reside next to his team’s base in Faenza. Ahead of the last and final race in the US this season, Tsunoda was able to complete the shifting process.
“The slightly longer break since Brazil means I’ve had time to move house,” he said in a recent interview. “I also had a couple of simulator sessions to prepare for this final triple-header of the season,” the Japanese driver added, suggesting that his mind hadn’t deterred away from F1.
Currently P11 in the standings, Tsunoda is having arguably his best season in F1. The 28 points he earned don’t do proper justice to how well he has performed for the most part, with RB’s mechanical inferiority limiting him on several occasions.
Yuki Tsunoda: “The slightly longer break since Brazil means I’ve had time to move house and I also had a couple of simulator sessions to prepare for this final triple-header of the season.”
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Tsunoda has the chance to finish in the top 10, being just three points behind Nico Hulkenberg, who is having a solid season himself. But to do that, anything short of a points finish would be a disaster.
“It’s an unusual track,” the 24-year-old, continued, talking about the upcoming Vegas outing. “Very long for a street circuit, with mainly slow corners, so the car set-up is a compromise between having enough downforce to help with heavy braking at the end of the three long straights and to have good traction out of the turns, while also not having so much drag it affects your top speed on the very fast straights.”
Tsunoda will also have to keep an eye out for the weather because, at this time of the year, the temperatures drop quite significantly in Vegas. Keeping the brakes and tires warm will be of huge importance, something the Japanese driver acknowledged.
After Vegas, a completely different challenge awaits Tsunoda and the rest of the drivers as F1 heads to the Middle East to round off the season with races in Qatar and Abu Dhabi.
