Tsunoda showed flashes of speed and promise in 2021 but his rookie season was also marred by various crashes and errors as the Japanese youngster was overshadowed by teammate Pierre Gasly.
Tsunoda raised eyebrows with a ninth place on his Bahrain debut but then struggled to build on that result.
While Gasly consistently raked in the points to keep AlphaTauri in the fight for fifth in the constructors’ championship, Tsunoda’s confidence took a knock as he claimed only six further top-10 finishes.
It took a mid-season move closer to AlphaTauri’s Faenza base in Italy and a more disciplined approach for Tsunoda – who called himself a “lazy bastard” – to dig himself out of his early season hole.
Team principal Tost said he never questioned that the highly rated Japanese youngster could turn it around. But ahead of the 21-year-old’s sophomore year, Tost says “it is now in his hands” to turn his raw talent into results.
“I can only say that Yuki is a really fantastic driver,” Tost said….
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