Yuki Tsunoda mentions why he feels like AlphaTauri team leader this season

AlphaTauri driver Yuki Tsunoda stated that he feels more like a leader against his rookie teammate Nyck de Vries in the 2023 season.

Despite being older than Tsunoda in age and racing experience, de Vries has only raced in six F1 races thus far, while the Japanese driver is in his third season with the team.

Tsunoda mentioned that he has really grown into the leadership position in 2023 post the departure of his former teammate Pierre Gasly to Alpine.

As per Motorsport Italy, he said:

“Yes, definitely [I feel more of a leader]. And I think I have to be, especially since it's my third year and because we've lost Pierre, [they] want someone to trust. And I have to be one of those people who can give a new impetus, especially now that we are having some performance difficulties."

"So I want to at least be as comfortable as possible regarding the performance on the track, whatever car they give Yuki, at least you know he will give 100%."

"And I want to feel like this. I don't want the team to worry about the rider's performance, which I don't think happened when Pierre was there, especially in 2021. I feel I have more leadership. I'm starting to feel more like a leader." [translated by Google]

"In every race I did last year I had the feeling that I could have done more" - Yuki Tsunoda

The AlphaTauri driver mentioned that he was even improving in the 2022 season as well and felt that he could have done more in the car last year.

Yuki Tsunoda said:

“Well, first of all, especially in this third year, if I have to continue to do what I was doing last season, if I'm not doing as well as I want or should do, I know I can do it."

"In every race I did last year I had the feeling that I could have done more, even in qualifying I tried these things and you know, especially in my third year, anything can happen and if you keep going like this, you lose your place. So I was able to think about how much Formula 1 means to me, how much motorsport means to me."

Hopefully, Yuki Tsunoda, with his leadership and experience, can take the team further up the grid in 2023 and finish in the midfield alongside its rivals.