23-year-old F1 driver’s ‘biggest issue’ right now is getting ‘too heated’ in the cockpit

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AlphaTauri driver Yuki Tsunoda certainly has plenty of potential, but he needs to find a way to stop getting so heated during races.

Speaking on the Chequered Flag Podcast, Harry Benjamin was speaking about the talented Japanese driver.

Yuki Tsunoda is now three seasons into his Formula 1 career and despite never being in one of the fastest cars, he’s always done a solid job.

He scored his highest points tally during his debut season in 2021, including an incredible fourth place that was overshadowed by other events during the final Grand Prix in Abu Dhabi.

The AlphaTauri was very quick that year with Pierre Gasly scoring more than 100 points, but in the past two seasons the car hasn’t been anywhere near as competitive.

With Gasly moving on this year, Tsunoda was the more senior driver in the team alongside Nyck de Vries.

The Dutchman only lasted 10 races, but even when Daniel Ricciardo and Liam Lawson were in the car, he was still on average the team’s fastest driver and impressed in the final races of the season.

However, AlphaTauri will know how heated Tsunoda gets behind the wheel and how this can be an issue.

While it certainly helps him drive on the very limit, it’s also meant his decision making hasn’t always been his strongest attribute.

Tsunoda gets ‘too heated’ behind wheel of AlphaTauri

Speaking about the 23-year-old, Benjamin said: “Franz Tost is hard but fair. The School of Franz Tost has seen many drivers succeed or fail and Franz Tost was the reason behind Tsunoda moving from the UK to Italy to be closer to the team, to be more embedded, to develop his maturity.

“That’s actually Tsunoda’s biggest issue is he get too heated in the cockpit and then he spins out of positions or he gets frustrated none so more evident than Mexico where he was carving his way through the field.

“I believe that he could have finished above Ricciardo in that race but in his battle with [Oscar] Piastri, he didn’t bide his time and he spun out because of it.”

AlphaTauri will know that the heated Tsunoda we see right now will mellow slightly as his career progresses.

There are parallels to be drawn between him and Max Verstappen who was frequently questioned for his aggressiveness during his first seasons in Formula 1.

Tsunoda will reach a crossroads sooner rather than later as he can’t continue at AlphaTauri forever.

Whether he’s the right man to step up into the sister Red Bull team is another matter, but he’s certainly quick enough to turn up at a mid-tier team in the near future.