Tsunoda's highest finish in F1 was P5 in Abu Dhabi, but he only outqualified Gasly once all season and was frequently far behind in races.
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Pierre Gasly feels the quality of drivers in Formula One’s middle contributed to Yuki Tsunoda’s troubles in his debut season, calling it “not easy” to deal with. Throughout 2021, Gasly outscored the young Japanese driver, collecting more than trebling his AlphaTauri teammate’s points total in a standout year for the Frenchman.
Tsunoda’s highest finish in Formula One was P5 in Abu Dhabi, but he only outqualified Gasly once all season and was frequently far behind on Sundays as well. Partway through the season, former Red Bull driver Alex Albon was pulled in as Tsunoda’s unofficial mentor, but Gasly said it was difficult to help his team-mate when he had his own work to complete.
“It’s difficult because it takes so much energy focusing on your own thing,” Gasly told reporters, quoted by GPFans. “I think listening from what Yuki says, he learned quite a lot from looking at the data, seeing the way I work with the team, and just seeing my approach.”
However, Gasly believes that the grid’s depth of skill played a role in Tsunoda’s struggle to acclimate to the top tier after performing well in Formula 2. Former World Champions were strewn throughout the midfield, with Sebastian Vettel toiling in an Aston Martin that was only seventh fastest on the grid, and Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen spending much of the season on the periphery of the points.
As a result, Tsunoda admitted to being lazy in the early part of the year, and his team-mate claimed it was a difficult moment to begin the sport.
“I think he probably didn’t expect to struggle that much, from what he says, coming into Formula 1,” Gasly added. “The level in F1 at the moment in the midfield, it’s really hard. A four-time World Champion driving for Aston Martin (Vettel) with a double World Champion driving for Alpine [Alonso], very strong line-up at Ferrari, very strong line-up at McLaren, even Kimi, a champion at Alfa Romeo. The level is really high and probably higher than even the last couple of years. For sure, as a rookie coming in was not easy.”
