Yuki Tsunoda says he was unable to enjoy his 2022 FIA Formula 1 World Championship season as Scuderia AlphaTauri struggled for performance despite the Japanese racer feeling he was in a much better position, both physically and mentally, than before.
AlphaTauri were one of the disappointing stories of the 2022 season, the Faenza-based squad dropping to ninth place in the Constructors’ Championship, scoring only thirty-five points having managed one hundred and forty-two in 2021.
Tsunoda himself scored twenty less points than he managed in 2021, his twelve of 2022 being made up of four top-ten finishes, the best being a seventh-place finish in the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix in April. Team-mate Pierre Gasly fared little better, the Frenchman scoring only twenty-three points last season, a drop of eighty-seven points compared to the year before.
The twenty-two-year-old felt he had progressed in his second season of Formula 1 compared to his first, but the fact the team struggled throughout the year made it difficult for him to prove just how improvement he had made on track.
And Tsunoda hopes 2023, where he will have a new team-mate in Nyck de Vries following Gasly’s departure to the BWT Alpine F1 Team, will give him the chance to show just how much he has progressed as a driver.
“I think as a team we struggled,” said Tsunoda to GPFans.com. “From my side, I progressed quite a lot, in terms of the physical side, mentality and driving side, every race.
“So I am quite happy with the shape I am in right now. It was a big shame that I could not show it with results like last year.
“Obviously, last year’s car was good and I struggled more. Mixed feelings but overall, I enjoyed it still. New car, completely new regulations, developing as a team and I have never had this sort of big project and big development.
“I enjoyed it but as a team, we struggled. A shame but it is what it is.”
