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AlphaTauri driver and 2021 rookie Yuki Tsunoda has said that the team had 'a really productive' day 1 of 2022 F1 testing. The Japanese driver drove the highly-anticipated AT03 at the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona.
F1 pre-season testing is in full swing, with teams trying out their new cars ahead of the season. Lando Norris topped the charts on the first day of testing with a quick time of 1:19.568. Yuki Tsunoda finished in seventh place after a good day on track, finishing ahead of reigning world champion Max Verstappen, who ended in ninth place.
The young Japanese driver was happy with what he achieved on the first day, saying that AlphaTauri hit all their goals for the day. Tsunoda said of the team's first day with the AT03:
“It’s been a really productive day and a good start to testing for the team. This is the first proper outing in the 2022 car, so everything we’ve done has been super important for our learnings, as obviously, this car is completely different to last year."
He continued:
"Mileage, and also the changes we were making to the set-up, were key today, and we managed to achieve everything we wanted to. We found a few things that we still need to play with, but we’re happy with how things are going so far."
"The car has been really reliable today; we needed to get as much data as possible, and we’ve managed to do this. We’ve still got five more days of testing to go before the first race. I think currently the car looks quite fast, but we won’t know the true performance of the car until Bahrain qualifying.”
AlphaTauri's Yuki Tsunoda has been training for 2022 season after a disappointing rookie year
Yuki Tsunoda entered the sport in 2021 after a successful F2 career, where he finished third in 2020.
However, the driver has lacked pace when compared to other drivers on the grid despite having a competent car. His teammate Pierre Gasly often outclassed him in both race and qualifying sessions last season.
However, it seems the young Japanese has stepped up for the 2022 season, acknowledging that his performances in 2021 were subpar. According to The Race's Scott Mitchell, the AlphaTauri driver has improved his physical conditioning with constant, rigorous training. Mitchell said in this regard:
"He is now happy to admit now that he badly misjudged his training regime for his rookie season. How bad? He reckons 66-year-old team boss Franz Tost was in better shape than he was!"
AlphaTauri will hope the young Japanese driver brings his A-game to the 2022 season. While pre-season testing is no real indicator of things to come, fans can be hopeful of seeing a quicker Tsunoda in the next few months.
