Yuki Tsuonda says Daniel Ricciardo’s arrival at AlphaTauri led to him rushing into a “couple of mistakes” due to the pressure of going up against an experienced Formula 1 team-mate.
Ricciardo returned to F1 at last month’s Hungarian Grand Prix in place of the under-performing Nyck de Vries, who was let go by AlphaTauri after just 10 races.
The Australian’s comeback generated a huge amount of media interest to the point where Ricciardo likened it to winning a world championship.
Tsunoda admitted going up against someone of Ricciardo’s calibre was “challenging” but that he is relishing the task of facing a driver with years of experience.
“It’s challenging. But at the same time, I know that this current situation is completely new for me,” Tsunoda said, as quoted by Motorsport.com.
“I’m learning a lot, especially getting challenged by an experienced driver. And not only is he an experienced driver, he’s a top driver and we know that he’s fast.”
Ricciardo managed to out-qualify and out-race Tsuonda in his first race back in Hungary before Tsuonda struck back in Belgium with a strong run to 10th place.
The Japanese driver said he was already learning a lot from Ricciardo, but that the eight-time grand prix winner’s return had raised the pressure to a stage where he was making some errors.
“I already know he is fast but also how he’s behaving in the team is like probably the opposite as me,” he said. “So, lots of things to learn, a lot from him.
“It’s also a bit of pressure for myself and probably that made me rush and a couple of mistakes in the last couple of races.
“But I was able to put it all together in the last race [Spa, 10th place]. It was not easy. But just happy and feeling ready for a fight with him in the second half of the season.”
Reflecting on the first half of the season, Tsuonda said he was “really happy” with his performances in 2023, pinpointing a clear step forward in consistency.
While he admits his rhythm was compromised after losing a points finish in Spain for forcing Zhou Guanyu off-track, he felt his drive at Spa was back to a similar level of his early-season form.
“Consistency was key, and especially last year, so I was able to improve. In the first races, I was happy; I knew why,” said Tsuonda.
“I was slightly [in] a bit of comfort zone, and I had kind of rhythm. After Barcelona, there was two races that I lost the points in an unfortunate way.
“Since then, I started to lose the rhythm. I recognise the amount I have to improve still.
“[Spa was] back to the same shape, or similar shape, I had in the beginning of season. So really happy and just keep improving.”
