Yuki Tsunoda was pleased with his consistency in F1 US GP that saw him finish in points, especially again holding off a Mercedes for few laps.
Having had an up and down year so far, AlphaTauri’s Tsunoda had a decent weekend in F1 US GP where he finished ninth after another Q3 run. When asked about his consistency across the weekend, he said that his communication with his engineers and their consistent feedback is what gave him satisfaction.
However, the young driver does not overlook his drives leading up to Sunday, which he says need a bit more in order to improve. “Consistency, in terms of, I would say communicate with engineers more consistent and feedback, proper feedback to the engineers, that was good,” said Tsunoda to written media.
“But also I need a little bit more pace from the Free Practice 1 onward. I was going P18 in Free Practice 1 and Free Practice 2, which is, you know, sometimes makes engineers or team having a question marks to me, and have to a little bit think about strategy in qualifying, so have to little bit improve those things especially from the next round, so I will focus on those things from next time,” summed up Tsunoda.
Apart from a good finishing position, Tsunoda also had a great start where he gained positions on the first lap and went up into P8 from P10, getting the jump on Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas and fellow teammate Pierre Gasly, who was forced to retire due to suspension trouble mid-way in the grand prix.
“Normally I lose quite a lot position on the first lap, and this time I gained a couple positions, went a little bit more aggressive compared to other rounds, and was okay so just keep doing like this,” stated Tsunoda.
The Japanese was also able to keep Bottas behind him for a while, something which Tsunoda hopes Mercedes won’t be mad at him for, but ultimately he was racing fair. This comes after he held off Lewis Hamilton in Turkey.
“Mercedes must be angry on me,” said Tsunoda with a smile. “You know, I don’t want any drivers let me through easily, so just did a normal thing.” While it wasn’t a problem for Mercedes, but having kept Max Verstappen a bit behind in the latter stages did cause some worry for Red Bull chief Christian Horner.
The story was written by Selena Aburas
Here’s Christian Horner on Yuki Tsunoda