Yuki Tsunoda reveals the ‘key’ strategy that helped him to outshine Daniel Ricciardo at the Belgian GP

Yuki Tsunoda finished the Belgian GP in P10 while his new teammate Daniel Ricciardo lagged behind in P16.

Yuki Tsunoda reveals the ‘key’ strategy that helped him to outshine Daniel Ricciardo at the Belgian GP

Yuki Tsunoda (Image credit: Redbull.com) and Daniel Ricciardo (Image credit: PlanetF1)

AlphaTauri’s 2023 season has been challenging, earning a mere three points. Yuki Tsunoda‘s tenth-place finish at the Belgian Grand Prix brought their third point, marking his first since April’s Baku race. Despite setbacks, Tsunoda’s resilience shone through. An amazing performance by the Japanese driver on Sunday saw him run as high as P7.

Yuki Tsunoda told the media that the start had been good, and they had a good pace in the first stint. He mentioned that the first stint played a crucial role in scoring points, as Alpine had been considerably faster, and Aston Martin had been very fast. He acknowledged that some luck was involved with cars ahead retiring, but they still managed to secure P10, which he considered a positive outcome. Tsunoda expressed his happiness and credited the team for doing a fantastic job.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=moOx73yj4xU

“The first stint was key to scoring points as Alpine was still much faster than us, and the Aston Martin was very fast. We also had a bit of luck with cars ahead retiring, but we were still able to finish P10, which was good. I’m really happy, the team did a fantastic job,” Tsunoda said at Spa.

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Yuki Tsunoda’s spirited drive inspires AlphaTauri’s first points since Baku

Yuki Tsunoda at the 2023 Belgian Grand Prix (Image credit: F1)

AlphaTauri’s race appeared promising, surpassing the 10th place temporarily. However, the outcome fell short of a season-transforming result, providing only a moderate boost. Yet, celebrating their first points since April and building on Yuki Tsunoda’s spirited drive is crucial. Despite a challenging Saturday, Tsunoda had outperformed new teammate Daniel Ricciardo in the Friday qualifying session.

Yuki Tsunoda mentioned that they had set up the car for Sunday, anticipating challenges in the rain, which resulted in securing the 11th position in Qualifying. He expressed satisfaction with maximizing the car’s performance, especially after struggling in the previous races and experiencing a terrible day on Saturday. Yuki emphasized feeling happy about the outcome and viewed it as a positive for AlphaTauri heading into the summer break.

“We were aiming the set-up for Sunday, so I knew we were going to struggle in the rain, but it was not too bad and we were able to P11 [in Qualifying]. In the last couple of races, I have struggled a lot and [Saturday] was a really horrible day, so I am definitely happy. It is a positive way to head into the summer break,”

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