Yuki Tsunoda admits AlphaTauri F1 driver has ‘not tried’ Daniel Ricciardo advice

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Yuki Tsunoda has now admitted that the AlphaTauri driver has ‘not tried’ the advice Daniel Ricciardo has given him since becoming teammates over the 2023 F1 season.

The Faenza squad refreshed their driver line-up three times throughout the year after Pierre Gasly left for Alpine last winter. Nyck de Vries initially got the drive beside Tsunoda after Red Bull sought to bring the Dutchman into F1. But his results were not enough to keep the seat.

So, Red Bull axed De Vries and embedded their reserve driver, Ricciardo, in at AlphaTauri for his return to Faenza. The 34-year-old raced with the team while they were called Toro Rosso over the 2012 and 2013 seasons. But his initial return only lasted two races due to an injury.

Yuki Tsunoda beat his three AlphaTauri teammates 15-7 in qualifying

Ricciardo underwent surgery after breaking a bone in his hand during FP2 at the Dutch GP in August. He buried his AT04 in the barriers at Turn 3 to avoid T-boning the stricken McLaren of Oscar Piastri. The operation ruled the Australian out of five rounds of the 2023 F1 season.

AlphaTauri turned to Liam Lawson to step in for Ricciardo, and the New Zealander delivered a host of top performances. But Tsunoda beat all three of his teammates in their head-to-head qualifying battles. He thrashed De Vries 8-2, pipped Ricciardo 4-3 and edged Lawson 3-2.

Ricciardo registered the closest margin to Tsunoda in qualifying as the eight-time Grand Prix winner’s average lap time was 0.080 seconds slower than the Kanagawa, Japan native’s. The 23-year-old’s lap times were also 0.128 and 0.218 seconds faster than Lawson and De Vries’.

Yuki Tsunoda ignored Daniel Ricciardo’s advice on how to drive the AT04

Tsunoda also won his Grand Prix results head-to-head duel with De Vries 8-2 and Ricciardo 4-3. Lawson had his number on race day for a 4-1 record but lost in the only Sprint. Tsunoda had a 1-1 Sprint record with Ricciardo and De Vries but outscored them 15-6 and 2-0 overall.

So, given Tsunoda was getting results with his knowledge of the AT04, he ignored the advice Ricciardo gave him on how to drive AlphaTauri’s 2023 challenger. But the Honda protégé will take the Australian’s advice on board in 2024 if Ricciardo gets to grips with the new car first.

“I’ve not tried [to] because I know how to drive this year’s car fast and how to make the car fast,” Tsunoda admitted, via quotes by Motorsport Week. “It worked for me, I’ve not had to change. For next year’s car, I don’t know how it’s going to be. It depends on how it behaves.

“So, for me, it’s about the car’s behaviour to maximise the performance, rather than just sticking to my driving style. If the car requires a different driving style compared to this year, I will try to adapt and see how it goes.”