Yuki Tsunoda has revealed that he has taken delivery of a simulator at his home in a bid to sharpen his driving skills amid a trying rookie Formula 1 campaign.
Tsunoda has had a mixed first season in Formula 1, failing to out-qualify team-mate Pierre Gasly, while trailing him 18 to 66 in the points battle.
He endured a fraught time in Russia, admitting to being confused at his pace deficit to Gasly in the dry-weather Friday sessions, prior to finishing ahead only of Nikita Mazepin in the race.
Red Bull moved Tsunoda from the UK to Italy earlier in the summer, with AlphaTauri team boss Franz Tost refining Tsunoda’s daily timetable, to enhance his relationship with the team.
Tsunoda has now expanded on his current set-up and believes having a simulator at home will help his progress.
“I have spent time in the factory, reviewing the last race, preparing for Turkey and training as usual,” said Tsunoda.
“I now have a home simulator that I can use, so I’ve been doing a lot of laps!
“Of course, it’s not quite the same as being in the full-scale sim at Red Bull, which is not like the real thing, but it is the most realistic one I have ever used.
“The main benefit of the sim is learning about the track and sharpening up my driving.
“I can also review something that happened in the previous race or I can practice some particular piece of driving.
“Having the simulator at home now is useful and I can also discuss what I am doing on it with my engineer and simulate a race weekend from FP1 to qualifying, based on plans made by the engineer for me to use, so we can work on it together.”
Tsunoda has never before competed at Istanbul Park, venue for this weekend’s Turkish Grand Prix, with Formula 2 having not featured on the support bill in 2020.
“I will follow my usual programme for a new track, building up speed gradually,” he said.
“The last five races I was pretty consistent, but the performance and pace was not so good, so this weekend I think I will try and dial it up a little bit more to be more competitive.
“Assuming it is dry, this looks like being a physically demanding track with corners like Turn 8. So, it will be tough, but I am looking forward to it.”
