(L to R): Yuki Tsunoda, Pierre Gasly, AlphaTauri, Silverstone, 2022

Tsunoda fares better against departing Gasly in second season of F1

2022 F1 team mate battles: Gasly vs Tsunoda

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At the mid-point in the season it wasn’t clear whether Yuki Tsunoda had risen to another level in his second season, or whether he’d got the rub of the green compared to his team mate.

After all, Pierre Gasly could justifiably point to several encounters with his team mate as the reason why he only out-scored him by five points over the opening 13 rounds. He expressed frustration at Tsunoda following the qualifying session in Australia, then was inadvertently compromised by him again in Monaco, where Gasly’s practice pace indicated he might finally grab a decent points haul in the uncompetitive AT03.

Worst came at Silverstone, where Tsunoda was more directly responsible for both his and Gasly’s failure to score, knocking him off the track at Village.

But as the season unfolded it became clear the rough diamond Tsunoda appeared to be during 2021 was much polished this year. He might not have been dependably on terms with Gasly, but the speed AlphaTauri identified when they plucked him from Formula 2 at the end of 2020 was evident. This was clearest in the qualifying score-lines: Having taken a 19-1 drubbing last year, Tsunoda ended 2022 almost level with his team mate.

Pierre Gasly, AlphaTauri, Baku Street Circuit, 2022
Gasly score AlphaTauri’s best result in Baku
Gasly did the better job more consistently on race days, however. In a season where points finishes were hard to come by, Gasly ended the year with almost twice his team mate’s score, and took AlphaTauri’s best finish of the year with fifth in Baku. Tsunoda only reached the top 10 once after the Spanish Grand Prix in May.

That gap might have been greater had Gasly not got into trouble all by himself on a few too many occasions. He collected a five-second time penalty in Mexico for an unnecessary incident with Lance Stroll (who he’d also been penalised for tangling with in Australia) and took the chequered flag 11th, less than a second behind Valtteri Bottas. Incidents such as these meant he ended the year perilously close to reaching 12 penalty points, the threshold at which an automatic ban is triggered.

That will be a concern for Gasly’s new team, Alpine. As he moves on, it’s a mark of how much his latest team mate gained from their partnership that Tsunoda expressed sincere disappointment at their parting of ways. He’s made obvious progress this year, and now has to show what he can do against Nyck de Vries to persuade Red Bull that he deserves a chance at the top team.

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Unrepresentative comparisons omitted. Negative value: Gasly was faster; Positive value: Tsunoda was faster

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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20 comments on “Tsunoda fares better against departing Gasly in second season of F1”

  1. …and now has to show what he can do against Nyck de Vries to persuade Red Bull that he deserves a chance at the top team.

    Unless Yuki is ahead of Sergio in the WDC after several races I don’t think Christian and Dr Marko would consider promoting him. Nevertheless, I do hope Yuki produces some good results.

  2. We all know Yuki only has a seat in Formula 1 because of his passport.

    1. No we don’t, because he doesn’t.

      He has a seat in F1 in large part because of his backing – but he is far from the only one.

      1. Would a generic driver with Yuki’s performance and any other passport get/keep a drive in Formula 1 on merit?

        Nope.

        1. With comments like this, it almost seems like you’ve only been watching F1 for a couple of years.
          And even in that time, we’ve seen names such as Latifi, Mazepin, Giovinazzi, Hulkenberg and plenty of other Europeans – half the grid, perhaps, or more. Not there on their passports either – but like Tsunoda, on their financial backing, relative performance, marketability and manufacturer connections, among other reasons.

          There are plenty of other Japanese drivers to choose from, if the passport was all that mattered. People far more recognisable and marketable in Japan, and with longer/stronger and more public connections with Honda…

          And I think you also underestimate the typical Japanese F1 viewer. They don’t care about nationality anywhere near as much as Europeans do. Not even close.

          1. And I think you also underestimate the typical Japanese F1 viewer. They don’t care about nationality anywhere near as much as Europeans do. Not even close.

            Hard to say as ‘Europeans’ is not one thing, and plenty of Europeans have never had a compatriot be competitive in F1 so there’s less cause to be as chauvinistic as some others with more F1 history tend to be. Still it only takes one Kubica, one Alonso, one Verstappen to create a lot of nationality-driven enthusiasm in their respective (adopted) home countries.

            When Kobayashi and Sato took podiums in Suzuka, the crowd went absolutely wild and there was definitely a link between that excitement and them being Japanese. Similarly, Toyota is always careful to place Japanese drivers in all their Le Mans cars so whoever ends up winning has a Japanese driver.

            Still, it is true that Japan has bigger motorsport stars than a midfield F1 driver like Tsunoda. Like drivers in the USA, a lot of Japanese don’t have any interest in racing worldwide – and that’s perfectly viable as both countries have a big and healthy domestic racing scene.

          2. It’s not even about having someone they know or can associate with directly.
            It’s simply the Japanese culture of respect. If you’ve been there and experienced it, you know what I mean.

            Sure, the crowd got a little more excited for Kamui and Taku – but then they didn’t abandon the event, as has happened in several European countries when their drivers retire or are no longer successful. Not even the slightest bit of negativity or even indifference for any competitor who wasn’t Japanese. There they were, still cheering for everyone.
            Compare that to the regularly boo-filled and scandal-laden European reception… And where’s the German GP now? They had two of them while Schumacher was on top…

            Even look outside of F1. Japanese fans are more than happy to turn up to the FIFA World Cup to watch two teams they’ve never even heard of play each other, be just as enthusiastic as any other spectator and even clean up the grandstands before they leave.
            Can’t say I’ve ever experienced that from too many Euros. Quite the opposite.

          3. Similarly, Toyota is always careful to place Japanese drivers in all their Le Mans cars so whoever ends up winning has a Japanese driver.

            And just on that comment – it does really help the marketing effort when your driver can communicate fluently in the team’s native language, directly with their local media….
            Motorsport is a prime marketing medium, after all.

          4. it does really help the marketing effort when your driver can communicate fluently in the team’s native language, directly with their local media….

            That would explain Ralf’s and Timo’s stints with Toyota, but not much else.

          5. And even in that time, we’ve seen names such as Latifi, Mazepin, Giovinazzi, Hulkenberg and plenty of other Europeans – half the grid, perhaps, or more. Not there on their passports either – but like Tsunoda, on their financial backing, relative performance, marketability and manufacturer connections, among other reasons.

            I’m sorry, maybe I’m just aot articulating my point clearly enough.

            On merit, Yuki Tsunoda would not make it to Formula 1 for a third season.

            Yuki Tsunoda is in Formula 1 because he was pushed on Red Bull by their PU partners Honda.

            For as long as I can remember, and if I’m missing someone please feel free to correct me, there’s a common feature among the drivers Honda has put into Formula 1 – their country of origin and nationality.

            Which in turn would make Yuki’s passport the conditio sine qua non of his continued career in Formula 1.

            In this, he is less comparable to the sons of wealthy individuals racing in Formula 1 – Lance or Nicky could hold any of a wide range of nationality/ies without having that impact their racing careers, and more akin to Checo, whose support has clearly been predicated on his country of origin.

          6. It’s not even about having someone they know or can associate with directly.
            It’s simply the Japanese culture of respect. If you’ve been there and experienced it, you know what I mean.

            Japanese F1 fans are great, no argument there. However, so are other fans. They all care enough to spend hundreds of dollars to be there, and that’s a pretty narrow selection of the population already. It only takes a dozen ‘lads’ in the right place near a microphone booing someone to give a bad impression, but I doubt you’d find any less genuine enthusiasm about the F1 circus at any other race, whether in the Americas, Europe or other parts of Asia.

            As for Tsunoda, it’s pretty clear that being Japanese is one of the main reasons he’ll get at third season at a Honda-powered team. Some people maintain he has huge promise, but after nearly 50 races that’s not really been evident. Guys like Vettel, Hamilton, Alonso and Verstappen all came unto the F1 grid and instantly commanded attention. If a driver called, say, Petr Novák, had been racing as Tsunoda has it seems unlikely Honda would care much about him either way.

          7. I’m sorry, maybe I’m just aot articulating my point clearly enough.

            You did. I disagree with it.
            Not only do I think Tsunoda is ‘worthy’ of competing in F1 regardless of his backing, I don’t believe that Honda supports him any more then they would support any of their other drivers who make them look good and sell their product (regardless of their nationality).
            IMO, there is no significant reason for him not to be in F1 for a third season, even if he was driving for a different team. He’s definitely shown improvement in speed and consistency.

            For as long as I can remember, and if I’m missing someone please feel free to correct me, there’s a common feature among the drivers Honda has put into Formula 1 – their country of origin and nationality.

            Depends on how you look at it. Honda have definitely backed drivers (new to F1) of other nationalities.

            I’m not sure how this would be any different to Hamilton having backing from McLaren, though, for example. And nobody seems to be denigrating McLaren or Ron Dennis for doing so, nor putting it down to which passport he holds. Same for Red Bull for any of their drivers (which Tsunoda is….).

          8. @S

            Honda have definitely backed drivers (new to F1) of other nationalities.

            Who and when? Their current (well, almost past) HFDP junior program featured Japanese drivers exclusively.

            I’m not sure how this would be any different to Hamilton having backing from McLaren, though, for example.

            44 races into his Formula 1 career, Lewis had won 13 pole positions, 9 races and one World Championship. McLaren was also about to turn their 2009 campaign around, leading to more pole positions and wins.

          9. 44 races into his Formula 1 career, Lewis had won 13 pole positions, 9 races and one World Championship.

            How many times has Tsunoda been given a race-winning car?

            Hamilton, on the other hand, has never not had one. Even this year, the car scored a win – he just wasn’t the driver who took it there.

        2. Salty anti Japanese sentiments showing

  3. Coventry Climax
    3rd December 2022, 10:54

    I didn’t feel Gasly was very strong over the last couple of races, but there might be a reason for that, in that Alpha Tauri was in a split of on one hand not giving him much priority (and certainly development knowledge) anymore, while on the other hand they needed all the points they could get.
    Maybe that flattered Tsunoda’s second half a bit as well?

    1. Definitely possible, it seems to often happen when a driver decides to leave, ricciardo 2018, alonso 2022 etc.

  4. It wasn’t a great year for Gasly on track so, by comparison, Yuki was closer. Whoop de do.

  5. To be fair, if Yuki’s DRS didn’t fail in Baku, they’d be almost level on points

  6. Both drivers were mediocre in 2022. I don’t expect much from Gasly against Ocon, and I don’t expect Yuki to beat DeVries.

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