Yuki Tsunoda has revealed this his move to Italy last year helped with his overall performance, after having found himself feeling “impacted” by several factors whilst living in the United Kingdom.
Living in the UK is a long way from home for Tsunoda, with the Japanese driver having found himself low on energy as a result of the weather and the food whilst living near Red Bull’s Milton Keynes base.
The AlphaTauri driver lived in the UK during his rookie season in 2021, a year which saw the Japanese driver make a concerning number of mistakes.
He did, though, show rare glimpses of real potential, something which saw him retained by the Faenza-based team for 2022, despite having been outclassed by team-mate Pierre Gasly.
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Following the 2021 season, Tsunoda actually moved to Italy to be near the team’s base, with the 22-year-old having found himself being much happier in the beautiful country.
The warmer weather and available food made Tsunoda feel “more energetic”, something which could be seen on the track.
Whilst AlphaTauri struggled last season, Tsunoda was closer to Gasly and demonstrated a step in the right direction from his rookie year, resulting in another new deal for 2023.
Tsunoda explained how moving to Italy helped him and why living somewhere that makes you happy is vital in F1.
“It helped, especially to feel comfortable to live,” Tsunoda told GPFans.
“In F1, when you arrive at a track, there is a lot of stress going around, so it is important to be as comfortable as possible when you are away from the track and when you are in the house.
“In the UK, the atmosphere there was as much as I wanted. The weather especially impacted me. Weather is quite an important thing for me, and food as well.
“So when I went to Italy, I already felt more energetic, more than usual. Then I felt it was a big, important move and was having a good impact on me.
“From then, I started to have a good rhythm when I got to the track, focusing fully on my race.”
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Off the circuit, Tsunoda was often seen last season laughing and joking around with Gasly and the Red Bull drivers, with the AlphaTauri driver seemingly being incredibly likeable.
Of course, Tsunoda is occasionally picked on by the drivers for his height, with the driver being only 1.59m tall.
He usually joins in with the joke, though, and actually shared a recent photo of himself with Basketball player Mamadou N’Diaye, who, it’s safe to say, towers over the Formula 1 driver!