Yuki Tsunoda recalls that he was “a little scared” when he first drove an F1 car.
In November 2020, Yuki Tsunoda was given the opportunity to run for the first time on an F1 car in a test at the Imola circuit. AlphaTauri arranged a test so that Yuki Tsunoda, who was racing in F2 at the time, could achieve the mileage required to obtain the F1 Super License required to run the FP1 session.
Arriving in F1 is a big step for a rookie, but Yuki Tsunoda definitely felt it when he first ran an F1 car in wet conditions.
Yuki Tsunoda ran the 300km required to obtain an F1 Super License, but said he was a little nervous when he first boarded the 2018 AlphaTauri, especially considering the weather conditions.
“I was a little scared,” Yuki Tsunoda told RacingNews365.com.
“The first session was a bit wet. It wasn’t completely wet, but it was a little wet. It was my first time in Imola, so I was a little scared.”
“I was a little scared because I didn’t want to lose the session right away on the first lap.”
Still, Yuki Tsunoda says that after a few laps, the fear disappeared and he just tried to enjoy the experience of holding the steering wheel of an F1 car.
“After three laps, the fear disappeared,” says Yuki Tsunoda.
“It was more fun to enjoy an F1 car. I was really impressed with the braking performance and acceleration of the F1 car, which was incredible compared to the F2.”
“I still clearly remember the first day of F1.”
After the test, AlphaTauri decided to promote Yuki Tsunoda to the F1 team in 2021. Yuki Tsunoda scored 32 points in his debut season in F1 and finished 14th in the drivers ranking.
Category: Category: F1 / Yuki Tsunoda / Honda F1 / Alpha Tauri