Yuki Tsuonda discovers "ingredients" to defeat Gasly

AlphaTauri

Tsuonda discovers "ingredients" to defeat Gasly

Gasly's 110 point haul was over three times greater than Tsunoda's 32 in 2021

Ian Parkes & Sam Hall

Wednesday 5 January 2022 14:46

AlphaTauri driver Yuki Tsunoda has claimed he knows "what I have to improve" to beat team-mate Pierre Gasly in 2022.

Tsunoda ended his rookie year 14th in the standings on 32 points, a total Gasly more than tripled with a haul of 110.

Japanese F2 graduate Tsunoda endured a mixed season after scoring points in an impressive debut in Bahrain before mustering just six further top 10 finishes across an incident-strewn campaign.

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Speaking in an interview including GPFans in December, Tsunoda said: “[2022] is going to be a really important year for me.

"I don't know how the pace is going to be for the car in the team, but you need to perform well and, of course, you need to beat the teammate and you need a more consistent race.

“But now I know the details of what I have to improve and, if I improve this one, I can beat him, beat my teammate, or have a consistent race.

“These are all of the things, all of the ingredients I saw to go forward. In terms of that, it was a really good preparation year I would say."

This year, F1 will race to radically new aerodynamic regulations with minimal carryover of parts from 2021 as the sport aims to add to the excitement of racing by reducing the downforce lost by cars following another through corners.

“If it's a good car, I have the full will to get consistent points and to achieve a good result," added Tsunoda.

"Even if it's a bad thing, if it's a bad car or has bad pace, you still can develop the car and I know how to develop the car for myself to be faster.”