Albon listens in on Tsunoda's team radio communication

29 October 2021 at 16:03

Last update 29 October 2021 at 20:27

GPblog.com

Alexander Albon is present at all Grands Prix as a test and reserve driver for Red Bull Racing, but since a couple of GP's the British Thai also fulfils another function within the Red Bull family. The 25-year old driver who will race for Williams next year supports Yuki Tsunoda by listening in on the radio communications.

That is what Lawrence Baretto writes for the official website of Formula 1. According to him Albon should not be seen as Tsunoda's coach, but he can give advice to the rookie in an informal way, based on his own experiences. The former teammate of Max Verstappen was also present at several technical briefings where he also gave input.

Tsunoda has had a difficult first year in the pinnacle of motor sport. The Japanese driver started off well, but then his performance became more and more inconsistent. What exactly is the reason for that? "It is felt Tsunoda knows how to drive fast and race hard, but that more work is needed on harnessing that speed and communicating how the Japanese driver feels in the car more effectively for his race engineers," Baretto writes.

Tsunoda lives near AlphaTauri factory

Red Bull and AlphaTauri are doing everything they can to make Tsunoda perform better. For example, halfway through the season Helmut Marko decided that the still only 21-year-old driver should move to Italy so that he could spend more time at the factory and do more simulations. Tsunoda's contract was extended by one year in early September.