Yuki Tsunoda suggests that AlphaTauri should drive without wings at the next Formula 1 race in Azerbaijan to compensate for the poor top speed on the straights. Because that’s pretty important on the track with its 2.2-kilometer start/finish straight.
In Australia, the Japanese had crossed the speed measurement at 314.2 km/h, which meant 17th place. For comparison: Sergio Perez was “shot” in the Red Bull at 339.9 km/h.
“I just had a lot of drag on the straights. The speed on the straights was terrible,” says Tsunoda. “In Baku we have to go without wings or something to increase our speed on the straights.”
At least the Japanese was able to get his first point of the season in tenth place in Melbourne after damaging the new underbody during a departure on Friday. “It was my fault,” he admits. “As a result, I had to use the old underbody, which of course wasn’t ideal for the team.”
According to teammate Nyck de Vries, the new underbody in Australia is said to have been a step forward. It was the first major update from AlphaTauri this season, which should give the AT04 a little more speed.
“I think the differences are pretty subtle,” says de Vries of the update. The Dutchman experienced a difficult start to his first season as a regular driver and does not believe that AlphaTauri will suddenly make a leap to the top of the midfield – also because that does not fit with the team’s update strategy.
“Every development for the car is important,” he says. “And all those little things and details that we consistently bring make a difference. We don’t have a game changer that takes us from 15th to eighth,” said de Vries. “But if you keep looking and finding more, then hopefully you can get close to the top 10.”
“Obviously we work closely together. We are a team working together and addressing and highlighting potential areas that we can improve and I think it’s clear where we need to find our performance,” he continues. “But that too is a moving target and it’s all relative to the competition so it’s never good enough either.”
The new underbody “helped AlphaTauri a little”, he says. “It’s so tight in midfield that every little thing can make a difference. So it definitely helped and that’s encouraging. But we need to keep pushing to get close to the top 10.”