So far in his career, Yuki Tsunoda has driven alongside four drivers. However, only two of his teammates for an extended period have been experienced F1 drivers. In choosing between them, the Japanese driver surprisingly snubbed his best friend Pierre Gasly in favor of Daniel Ricciardo, while answering the question of who has been the biggest challenge as his teammate so far in his career.
On the F1: Beyond the Grid podcast, Tsunoda revealed no one has pushed him as hard as the Australian. Tsunoda admitted that Gasly dominated him in his first two years in F1 and gave him full credit for the same. However, he confessed in his fourth year he’s grown as a driver and matured in F1.
Despite that, facing a seemingly past-his-prime Ricciardo was still not easy as he faced immense competition from him. This is why the 24-year-old confessed the Honey Badger has been the biggest challenge of his carer.
He explained, “The third year when Daniel joined, I was already for sure better than the first two years. It felt different, you know, I guess. If I’m able to now compete with Pierre, maybe it’ll be a different view. But Daniel was the biggest challenge.”
Tsunoda did mention how his time with either of his teammates can’t be compared. Although perhaps the idea of a potential promotion to Red Bull is putting both him and Ricciardo under more pressure. This could be true given the fact that the Honey Badger’s stint at VCARB has also not been the best.
Whereas Tsunoda is apparently in the form of his life. Regardless, the 24-year-old has not seen his much more experienced teammate as competition alone, he’s learned from him as well.
Tsunoda confesses he’s learned a great deal from Ricciardo
Despite being his biggest challenge and competition for the Red Bull seat, the Australian has somewhat been Tsunoda’s mentor as well. The Japanese driver used to struggle with his short temper which used to hamper his output during the race. Driving alongside Ricciardo, he’s learned how to be calmer and also picked up cues from his style of communication and feedback.
As quoted by RacingNews365, he confessed, “Last couple of years, I started in a pretty bad position, especially with my emotional control. How much you can be consistent throughout the weeks, and after he became my team-mate, he is very, very strong at that and was doing much better than me. For sure, those things I learnt.”
The 35-year-old’s positive influence is not going unrecognized. However, Tsunoda will have to scoop up all he can as early as possible with Ricciardo’s future still uncertain.
Then, the dynamic will change once again with all signs pointing toward Liam Lawson getting his permanent F1 seat. Perhaps the Japanese prodigy would learn more with a challenge from a younger more ambitious driver like Lawson.
