Amidst all the chaos at AlphaTauri surrounding Nyck de Vries this season, it is clear that Yuki Tsunoda has been a true leader of the team. With all the experiences he gathered in his first two years in F1, Tsunoda is confident that he can defeat Daniel Ricciardo, who replaced De Vries.
The Japanese driver has comprehensively outperformed his Dutch teammate for the first part of the season. While de Vries struggled to get up to speed and was eventually sacked, Tsunoda put in some fairly consistent performances, despite driving what was arguably the slowest car on the grid.
Keeping his excellence this campaign aside, Tsunoda was also turning heads with his results last year. Even though he finished behind his ex-teammate Pierre Gasly, the Japanese driver is adamant that the experience he gained from fighting him, is invaluable.
Tsunoda believes his Gasly experience will help against Daniel Ricciardo
Tsunoda is a driver who is brimming with confidence at the moment. The way he has been pushing the slowest car on the grid towards the top ten has been commendable. In fact, he has earned the praise of Red Bull chief Helmut Marko. However, Tsunoda also reminded everyone that his performances against Gasly, who is now racing for Alpine, went under the radar in 22..
The 23-year-old told Total Motorsport, “Everyone said I got confidence from this year. But at the same time, not many people watched my races last year. In most of the qualifying sessions in dry conditions, I was beating Pierre. I’ve [got] good confidence. I’ve put it all together more [often] this year in the race and qualifying.”
Yuki Tsunoda was close to finishing in the top ten on several occasions this year. Those were all incredible feats because the AlphaTauri has been incredibly underwhelming in terms of performance this year. His results have been so good that he is being linked to a move to Red Bull.
Is Yuki Tsunoda ready for the move?
Over the last few weeks, multiple rumors have linked Tsunoda to a place at Red Bull. However, in reality, it seems far-fetched and the Japanese driver is completely focused on giving his best for AlphaTauri.
Furthermore, Tsunoda revealed that he is happy to be a member of the Red Bull family. But it is important to note that he will have to hold a significant advantage over Ricciardo by the end of the year to have a shot at Red Bull in the upcoming seasons.
Meanwhile at Red Bull, Sergio Perez’s poor qualifying run has been worrisome. Helmut Marko and Chrisitan Horner insist that the Mexican driver is safe. However, with a lot of talents like Ricciardo and Tsunoda waiting on the sidelines, Perez has to be on his toes.
