AlphaTauri team principal Franz Tost has said that new drivers arriving in Formula 1 tend not to realise just how challenging the sport is on a physical level.
That matches the experience of Yuki Tsunoda, who joined the team as a rookie last season and struggled ot make the transition and that he hadn't been able to "adapt quickly enough" to "unexpected or unusual" occcurences.
"It's not only Yuki who underestimates how physical it is to drive a Formula 1 car," Tost told the media this week at the Circuit de Catalunya during the first shakedown test for 2022.
"It's really for all the young drivers when they [compete for] the first time in a Formula 1 car, because this is another dimension," Tost explained.
"I always tell them when they come to Formula 1 'Now your real hard work will start!. Everything you did before was kindergarten, now you have to start working, be disciplined'."
Tost took a firm grip on Tsunoda's development last year, insisting that the Japanese driver relocate from the UK close to the team's base in Faenza so that he could personally supervise the rookie's development.
"Yuki improved a lot during the last season," Tost said, adding that with a push in ""right direction, the more successful they will become".
"It's not only Yuki who has problems at the beginning when he is new in Formula 1, from the physical side," he continued. "All the forces which are coming from braking, from the corners, are very, very high.
"I don't know any driver who came to Formula 1 without having any physical problems. It's a special training.
"It was easier, let me say, 10, 15 years ago - there were much more tests beforehand," he continued. "Nowadays the drivers have to go more to the gym, have to do a lot of physical training.
"And we must not forget that these cars are the fastest cars ever," he added.
"[Yuki] understands it. He trained a lot during the winter months, and of course from the physical side he is much more on a much higher level as it was last year."
Tsunoda and his team mate Pierre Gasly will be back in action behind the wheel of the new AT03 for the second pre-season test at Bahrain International Circuit from March 10 to 12.
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