F1 News
Tsunoda already ten races scoreless: "His performance is getting better"
- GPblog.com
Franz Tost thinks Yuki Tsunoda needs to show more discipline. The young Japanese currently has the most number of penalty points of any driver with a total of eight. In 2022 alone, Tsunoda received five reprimands, which earned him a 10-place penalties.
Tsunoda is working on his second Formula 1 season in the service of AlphaTauri. The 22-year-old driver regularly lets his emotions take over while he races, as a result of which he can often be heard ranting over the board radio. The penalties his actions sometimes incur hinder his performance. Tsunoda, meanwhile, has not finished in the points for ten races.
Too many unnecessary penalties
Tost is not worried about his pupil's pointless run. "His performance is improving," the team boss is quoted as saying by FormulaRapida.net. What matters most to Tost is that Tsunoda gets control over his emotions and that he gets more discipline.
The latest of Tsunoda's reprimands came after he ignored a yellow flag during FP2 at Zandvoort. "That is not smart. I understand it is inconvenient during qualifying and sometimes in the race, but during free practice you always have to accept yellow flags and you will have to react correctly," Tost explained.
Third year at AlphaTauri?
Tsunoda has still not signed a contract for 2023, but all indications are that he will drive for another year next season at AlphaTauri, Red Bull Racing's sister team. Whether Pierre Gasly will be his teammate for another year remains to be seen. The Frenchman has been linked with a deal with Alpine. Nyck de Vries could then just be his successor at AlphaTauri.