Yuki Tsunoda has admitted that he has already learned “quite a lot of things” from Daniel Ricciardo since the two became team-mates at AlphaTauri earlier in the season.
Tsunoda began the past campaign partnered with Nyck de Vries, but the Dutchman was ousted only 10 races into his rookie Formula 1 season after encountering a troubled spell.
De Vries’ demise paved the way for Daniel Ricciardo, who had been axed by McLaren at the end of last year, to be handed an F1 reprieve with Red Bull’s second-string outfit.
Although Ricciardo was absent for five rounds due to a hand injury sustained in a crash at Zandvoort, the pair combined to elevate AlphaTauri to eighth in the standings.
Amid the team’s shift towards prioritising experience as it prepares to embark on a new chapter with a rebranded moniker, Ricciardo, 34, will remain alongside Tsunoda, who will compete in his fourth F1 season leaving plenty of time to place a bet at bet365 on these two drivers for next season.
The Japanese driver has revealed how observing the way the Australian works with the Faenza squad aided him in improving upon a weakness he had sought to address.
“Always your team-mate is your biggest rival, but I think he’s giving good feedback,” Tsunoda said on Ricciardo.
“I’m learning from him already with quite a lot of things, especially how he behaves towards the team.
“It is quite different to me, especially as it is quite the opposite, which I wanted to fix, and he’s a really good reference driver.”
While their contrasting personas mean they don’t spend time together away from the track, Tsunoda insists his relationship with Ricciardo has been productive to this point.
The 23-year-old has explained why he views the contrast in driving style with his team-mate as a positive for both his own development and AlphaTauri’s progress.
“We don’t create the time to sit down together and talk about things, but when we have the time, like going to a drivers’ meeting or when he’s sitting in the same car, we talk as normal,” he expanded.
“We’re quite different drivers with our style, and what we require from the team about the car is different, and that’s actually a good thing.
“I can have a good idea of good options or something different with a different style, so it gives me options to go even faster.”
Ricciardo achieved the Italian camp’s best result of the year with seventh in Mexico, but Tsunoda outscored the multiple-time race winner across their eight rounds together.
Tsunoda concedes he’s yet to trial Ricciardo’s inputs due to his deeper knowledge of AlphaTauri’s 2023 challenger, but he would be willing to experiment if the situation demanded it later down the line.
“I’ve not tried [his advice] because I know how to drive this year’s car fast, and how to make the car fast,” he added. “It worked for me, I’ve not had to change.
“For next year’s car, I don’t know how it’s going to be. It depends on how it behaves, so for me, it’s about the car’s behaviour to maximise the performance, rather than just sticking to my driving style.
“If the car requires a different driving style compared to this year, I will try to adapt, and see how it goes.”
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