Formula 1 driver Yuki Tsunoda does not see the role of team leader at AlphaTauri as yet taken and wants to wait and see whether he or Nyck de Vries will be faster.
Who will lead AlphaTauri as team leader in the upcoming Formula 1 season? The young and impetuous Yuki Tsunoda, who already has two Formula 1 seasons under his belt, or Nyck de Vries, who is more experienced at the age of 28 and who, apart from a commitment for Williams in Monza, still has no Formula 1 racing experience ?
Red Bull’s motorsport consultant Helmut Marko had committed himself to de Vries when he announced – also because, in addition to titles in Formula 2 and Formula E, he brings experience from his test runs with Mercedes and sat in four different Formula 1 cars in 2022 and at McLaren was already ready for a fifth.
Yuki Tsunoda’s greater experience in Formula 1 probably speaks for itself
“In terms of experience and personality, he should be the team leader,” said Marko at the time. Tsunoda, on the other hand, does not see the role as clearly distributed after Pierre Gasly’s departure in the direction of Alpine.
He says: “The faster driver will lead the team anyway. I don’t care if I’m the team leader or not. I’m just focused on my work and on learning a lot and improving.”
The Japanese knows that in 2023 there will be more responsibility on his shoulders because Gasly, with his more than five years of Formula 1 experience, will no longer be there, but he trusts himself: “I have great confidence that I can do it I can come back stronger,” he promises.
AlphaTauri driver Yuki Tsunoda is self-critical after his second year in Formula 1
The past season, on the other hand, didn’t quite go as Tsunoda had wished. Although he was much closer to his teammate than in his debut year and was able to make the qualifying duel reasonably open with 9:13, he only scored twelve points and in the meantime also remained without a point for twelve races in a row.
“I think I’ve progressed pretty well from race to race this season overall and I’m pretty happy with the form I’ve achieved this year,” said the 22-year-old. “Of course I still have to improve a lot, especially in terms of consistency, but at least I have a clear goal in mind for next year.”
Gasly will then no longer stand by his side to help him. Tsunoda says: “Without him I couldn’t have made so much progress in the last two years and I’ve learned a lot from him. I’ll miss him, but it was a pleasure to work with him.”