"I have more experience than Daniel": Yuki Tsunoda unflustered by Daniel Ricciardo's absence when it comes to evaluating upgrades

Yuki Tsunoda feels Daniel Ricciardo’s absence has not hampered evaluating the upgrades on the AlphaTauri care. Speaking to Sportskeeda after the race, the Japanese driver believes that he has had more experience with the car than the Australian.

Helmut Marko had mentioned prior to the Dutch GP that Ricciardo would play a big role in evaluating the upgrades on the AT04. However, the Australian injuring his hand and being replaced by Liam Lawson hasn’t helped the cause.

Asked by Sportskeeda if gauging the upgrades was difficult without the former Red Bull driver’s experience, Yuki Tsunoda was defiant about his experience with the car.

Answering Sportskeeda’s question after the Dutch GP, Yuki Tsunoda said:

“Yeah obviously I have more experience than Daniel about that car. So I know what direction to take for the setups and everything and all the team know what we have to improve ourselves. Just we know that we have upcoming upgrades, more upgrades so yeah hopefully that works well.”

With three different teammates in one season, Yuki Tsunoda has had to evaluate the upgrades on the car and its setups on his own. The Alpha Tauri driver has outqualified all three teammates that have paired alongside him in 2023.

Although Ricciardo had barely settled into the AT04, he was recruited to help the team surge through the pecking order in the remaining 12 rounds of the season. Qualifying 14th in the race, the Japanese driver crossed the finish line in 15th place.

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Yuki Tsunoda rues missed opportunity in the Dutch GP

Yuki Tsunoda felt it was a shame that they weren’t able to finish in the points, despite the pace in their car.

The AlphaTauri driver believes that their strategy helped them in the race, but the difference in pace between the used and new compound did not help their cause.

Looking forward to the Italian GP in Monza, the 22-year-old driver is certain they will be able to improve their performance.

Talking about the missed opportunity to the media, including Sportskeeda, Yuki Tsunoda said:

“Yeah I think with the strategy we took, that staying out with the soft tyre was the things we all agreed including me. In free practice soft looked good and we didn’t expect that much of a disadvantage between used tyre and the new tyre, pace was quite a lot different than we expected. In the end it didn’t pay off but still I enjoyed the battle with the drivers.”

He added:

“I think in the end its a shame that we didn’t ..we weren’t able to maximise the performance. In qualifying especially, definitely there was pace, but obviously we at least showed pace in the car and we showed a bit of opportunity in the race as well. I feel optimistic for the next race.”

AlphaTauri upgraded the AT04 with a new rear wing end plate for the Dutch GP and will have more bits added to it by the race in Monza. Yuki Tsunoda has been the sole point scorer for the team and has currently scored three points in total.

However, the Faenza-based squad is last in the championship standings and is desperate to be at least halfway up the pecking order in 2023.

Unlike their sister team, Red Bull, who are dominating the championship, the junior team need more points finishes and consistent drivers, which is another reason for their recruitment of Ricciardo and mid-season driver change.