Former rival of Tsunoda: 'His strength is that he doesn't care'

With the arrival of Yuki Tsunoda at AlphaTauri, Japan finally has a driver in Formula 1 again. The young driver made a good impression right from the start and managed to score points in his debut race.

Relaxed attitude

According to Nobuharu Matsushita, Tsunoda's compatriot and former Formula 2 rival, Tsunoda's great strength lies in his relaxed attitude towards making mistakes. "I think Tsunoda's strength is that he doesn't care," Matsushita tells Motorsport.com. "If he makes a mistake, he just moves on to the next one. That's really important."

"Every time you make a mistake, most people think, 'next time I can't make a mistake. But he just says, 'I made a mistake, I learned from it' and moves on. That's his great strength."

Great season

Tsunoda finished ninth in Bahrain, making him the first Japanese ever to score points on his Formula One debut. "AlphaTauri is quite competitive, easily good enough for the top ten, so I think he's going to have a great season," predicts Matsushita. "And I know how fast Gasly is, so I'm very excited to see how they compare."

Became much calmer

Matsushita got to know Tsunoda in 2019. "We did a race together in Euroformula Open [at the Hungaroring]. That time he was not so competitive, made quite a few mistakes." Meanwhile, Matsushita sees a different Tsunoda. "I think working with Carlin (Formula 2 team] last year made him much better. And he has become much calmer."

"In qualifying, there is no doubt that he can be fast. In the races he was often a bit conservative at the beginning, only to push at the end because he still has the tyre. In F1 you have to be aggressive right from the start. That's the thing he needs to improve. But I think he can do it," concludes Matsushita.