Yuki Tsunoda says Daniel Ricciardo's arrival at AlphaTauri last month has forced him to raise his game, but the Japanese charger is ready for the challenge that his new situation has delivered.
Tsunoda had little trouble outpacing Ricciardo's predecessor, rookie Nyck de Vries during the first part of the season given the Dutchman's struggles.
The latter was eventually replaced by Ricciardo who returned to the fray after seven months away from the sport, save for his development work with Red Bull as the Milton Keynes-based outfit's third driver.
Taking stock of his first two races alongside his new teammate at AlphaTauri, Tsunoda admitted to be facing a challenge.
The 23-year-old feels he's up against a very fast driver who is also the opposite of himself in terms of their respective personalities and behavior within the team. .
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"It's challenging. But at the same time, I know that this current situation is completely new for me," he said at Spa last weekend.
"I'm learning a lot, especially getting challenged by an experienced driver. And not only is he an experienced driver, he’s a top driver and we know that he's fast.
"I already know he is fast but also how he's behaving in the team is like probably the opposite as me," said Tsunoda. "So, lots of things to learn, a lot from him."
©AlphaTauri
Tsunoda candidly acknowledged that the extra pressure induced by his situation had led to a few mistakes in Hungary and in Spa, although his delivered a solid drive in Belgium that yielded a P10 finish.
"It's also a bit of pressure for myself and probably that made me rush, and a couple of mistakes in the last couple of races," he added.
"But I was able to put it all together in the last race. It was not easy. But just happy and feeling ready for a fight with him in the second half of the season."
©AlphaTauri
So far this season, Tsunoda has scored points in only three races. Yet he believes that overall, he's performing more consistently than last year.
"Consistency was key, and especially last year, so I was able to improve. In the first races, I was happy, I knew why," he said.
"I was slightly [in] a bit of comfort zone, and I had kind of a rhythm. After Barcelona, there were two races that I lost the points in an unfortunate way.
"Since then, I started to lose the rhythm. I recognise the amount I have to improve still.
"[Spa was] back to the same shape, or similar shape, I had in the beginning of season. So really happy and just keep improving."
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