Looking back over the season, one of the teams that has shown the most tangible progress during the world championship is AlphaTauri which, from fighting to avoid the last rows at the beginning of the year, has recently appeared more consistently in the points zone. Before the United States Grand Prix, in fact, the Faenza team found itself at the bottom of the constructors’ ranking, while now it has climbed up to eighth position, with the declared objective of trying to catch Williams again before the end of the championship.
These advances coincided with the introduction of two different substantial packages of technical innovations between the Singapore and United States Grands Prix, which ensured greater downforce and better balance of the car. Added to this was also the work to try to cure that instability at the rear which often negatively affected the riders, in particular Nyck de Vries, who in the first part of the world championship had suffered more than anyone from this problem of the AT04.
In Mexico, Daniel Ricciardo distinguished himself by qualifying fourth, then finishing seventh at the finish line after the checkered flag. After starting from the back to replace the Power Unit lost in Monza, Yuki Tsunoda was also able to climb back up to the top ten, but an accident with Oscar Piastri then caused him to slip out of the important positions again. The weekend in Brazil was more complex for the Italian team, with a disappointing Friday which however gave way to a Saturday that ended with taking home precious points. The same can be said for Sunday where, net of Ricciardo’s misfortune, whose car was hit by a stray tire lost in the accident on the first lap, Tsunoda managed to once again achieve a position in the top ten, thus shortening the separation from Williams.
Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Yuki Tsunoda, AlphaTauri AT04
Beyond the positive results, behind the scenes there was a lot of work by both the team and the drivers, who tried to adapt to an ever-evolving car. For example, the Australian also benefited from some changes in terms of set-up which gave him greater confidence in the front, one of those aspects which he had paid negatively during his stint in McLaren. Although Ricciardo is known as one of the most “aggressive” drivers when braking, in particular thanks to his numerous overtakings during the Red Bull period, in reality the Perth native favors early and modulated braking with the aim of bringing greater speed into distance, still managing to rotate the car in the center of the curve. During his stint in Woking, this peculiarity struggled to emerge but, with the move to AlphaTauri, Ricciardo seems to have found greater confidence, especially after the set-up changes introduced in Mexico.
On the other hand, the Australian clashes with a Tsunoda who, over the course of the year, has been the author of ups and downs, with high level performances, even if at times without points, as opposed to more subdued weekends. The progress shown by his teammate in Mexico had raised doubts that the Japanese might decide to change his driving style by moving towards some of the changes adopted by Ricciardo, but this does not appear to be the case.
“For now I’m satisfied with my form and my way of riding in AlphaTauri. I don’t think there’s anything wrong, so I won’t change anything. Obviously I’ll see how Daniel goes. In Mexico we followed completely different approaches, but the His style is working. He’s actually good for the team because his [di Ricciardo] style is very different from that of other riders, so the team must prepare a new approach for him that also gives a good idea for future development to go faster. But, for now, I won’t change. If he is clearly faster than me in some Grand Prix, then I will try it, but for now it seems to me that the braking application is very different”, said the Japanese, underlining how he will change his style only if he sees significant improvements in certain appointments that, perhaps, are better suited to a certain type of driving.
Photo by: Simon Galloway / Motorsport Images
Yuki Tsunoda, AlphaTauri AT04, Daniel Ricciardo, AlphaTauri AT04
One of the most obvious differences is precisely that in braking. Since the preparatory categories, Tsunoda has stood out for his aggressive braking style, with a more marked deceleration in a smaller space. An aspect that was already evident in Formula 3 and Formula 2, but which then also recurred in his transition to the top series. The Japanese manages to make the difference in the initial part of braking, from the first application until the peak in terms of pressure is reached, while Ricciardo manages to interpret the release phase more effectively, thus bringing greater speed right into the distance.
“I have a different approach to braking than the others. I’d say it’s his style [di Ricciardo] braking is quite similar to that of the others. On the brakes I’m generally competitive, but he’s also good in terms of pedal release. In reality it is not far from me, but the initial part of the braking is different and this creates a lot of differences in how the car behaves and the AlphaTauri is particularly sensitive to this aspect.”
“I’d say [che la mia applicazione sul freno] it is stronger. Stronger and faster. The initial part is stronger. I’ve never seen a pilot who has a starting part [della frenata] stronger than mine. Daniel does the pedal release part well. I think I can learn something from this as a driver.”
Photo by: Gianluca D’Alessandro
Comparison of braking style in the sprint shootout in Brazil between Yuki Tsunoda (red) and Daniel Ricciardo (blue): you can see how the Japanese is more aggressive and spends less time braking
With such aggressive braking, the way of approaching corner entry and the rotation phase of the car clearly also changes, the very aspect that created the most problems for Ricciardo in the McLaren period. “I try to rotate the car on entry rather than in the center of the corner when going through it. I know I’m different from other drivers, but it works. I’ve never seen my driving style not work in any car, so that’s fine. I would just like to make my driving technique a little broader so that if I drive other cars sooner or later, if I have a good technique, I can adapt,” Tsunoda said.
Precisely on this last point the Japanese would like to try to broaden his horizons, also keeping in mind that the characteristics of the AlphaTauri in 2024 could change radically following a different direction in approaching certain Red Bull concepts. However, there is the belief that no major changes are needed, because his style has remained unchanged over time, except for normal needs due to adaptation to the various single-seaters: “At the moment, my driving style works, but you never know, maybe at a certain point it won’t work anymore. But I don’t worry that my driving style won’t work, because I haven’t changed since my karting days and it has worked with any car, it’s just a fine-tuning. period,” Tsunoda added.
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