“He’s adapting to F1,” Jody Egginton commends Yuki Tsunoda for coming out stronger after weathering a tough rookie year
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Yuki Tsunoda
Yuki Tsunoda has been time and again referred to as the ‘problem child’, which has put his excellent qualities as a F1 driver in the background. The Japanese driver made his debut in 2021 at the Bahrain Grand Prix partnering Pierre Gasly for AlphaTauri, as he replaced Daniel Kyvat to start his journey in F1. He wasted no time to get going as he scored his first points in his first ever Grand Prix.
After the race in Bahrain, Ross Brawn, F1’s technical director, hailed him as one of the best rookies he has seen in the sport for years. In his very first season, the Yuki was able to score 32 points and went on to finish 14th in the drivers’ championship. We have seen a lot of rookies come over the years and have struggled to score a single point but Yuki was quickly came to grips with the sport.
But, he had his own challenges in this first ever year in F1. Both Franz Tost and Helmut Marko had criticized Tsunoda for his violent eruptions over the radio as it demoralized the team, which led to him being sent to Milton Keynes to sort himself out and work on his issues. The Japanese driver had to fight through his issues to come back and round off an ultra successful season. He is also having a decent 2022 season having scored 11 points despite the AT03 being less competitive.
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Yuki Tsunoda praised by AlphaTauri’s technical director, Jody Egginton, for his efforts to establish himself in F1
Jody Egginton, AlphaTauri’s technical director, has praised Yuki Tsunoda’s grit and determination. He said, “He’s adapting to Formula 1 and, even though we’ve had a regulation change, the way he was driving the car evolved, even through last year.”
“At the start of the year (2021), he had some good results out of the box. Everyone was like ‘Oh wow, Yuki is great’. But, like a lot of rookies when you do the analysis, they start well, and then they go through a bit of a purple patch.”
“His driving also evolved to give him a wider range of setups he could digest, and he’s just carried that form on really. I think the Yuki we’ve got now is easier to set a car for him than it was mid-season last year.”
Yuki Tsunoda has abundant talent but he also needs to have the temperament to be a successful F1 driver over a length of time. He has got the right time for his development but he needs to put more effort to have a calm head in tense situations.
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