Yuki Tsunoda’s Daniel Ricciardo admission with comparison made to Pierre Gasly

Yuki Tsunoda arrived in Formula 1 in 2021 and alongside him in the AlphaTauri garage was Pierre Gasly but, with the Frenchman now at Alpine, it is Daniel Ricciardo he is now sharing a paddock with – someone who is playing an important role as a good “reference” driver with his Red Bull future up in the air.

With 44 races alongside Gasly and currently 29 with Ricciardo, that pair represents the drivers Tsunoda has raced most alongside with and both have helped the Japanese driver to improve his abilities.

Yuki Tsunoda compares Daniel Ricciardo and Pierre Gasly

Asked by PlanetF1.com on what the major differences between Gasly and Ricciardo were, Tsunoda suggested that both were the perfect team-mates for the stage he was in during that point of his career.

“My first year in Formula 1 and my current position is a different perspective, a different view. I feel like a different person as well,” Tsunoda said.

“So it’s hard to say but I think both sides obviously have a similarity. They have their own strong experience and they have a mindset that they want to race and create relationships with teams.

“I think both are really good at talking with engineers, giving feedback to the engineers. Helping the team to direct which direction we want to take in terms of development.

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“With Pierre, I was lucky that he was my first team-mate for the first two years. If I was struggling on the track or I wouldn’t say mentally but sometimes when I’m in a bad mood or whatever, he was always a good teammate. We had a good relationship, just purely friends and he helped me a lot of things, with kind of being able to enjoy the process.

“With Daniel, he is actually a good reference driver for now because currently what I’m trying to improve with, I think Daniel is the guy who is very strong [in these areas].

“His strengths are what I’m currently trying to achieve, the mental side and I think he’s the guy who can control this.

“Pierre and Daniel have been good team-mates for each time I was with them.”

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