15/03/2022
NEWS STORY
Playing video games and scoffing UberEats, Yuki Tsunoda admits why he had to turn his lazy, lifestyle around.
Hailed as F1's - certainly Japan's - next big thing, much was expected of Yuki Tsunoda when signed by AlphaTauri to partner Pierre Gasly.
Pre-season testing form suggested he was going to enter the sport with a bang, unfortunately, despite an impressive debut in Bahrain, all too often it was the wrong kind of bang.
A run of poor performances and needless incidents forced the Faenz-based outfit to take action. However, somewhat surprisingly for team not known for its patience, rather than the Japanese youngster, they moved him to Italy in order that they could oversee his development and training at close hand.
The youngster admits that this was just what was needed, for left to his own devices in the UK, he spent his time doing what other young men of his age tend to do.
"Last year, especially the first half of the season, I was taking pretty much every day Uber Eats for breakfast, lunch, and dinner," he admits. "One hand on the game controller, one hand just food. It was literally really bad."
Other than those numerous incidents, his Damascene moment came when he looked at team boss, Franz Tost, who, though 66, enjoys a strict fitness regime.
"He's running like, I don't know, 10km from 05:30, which I've never done in my life," admits Tsunoda. "That's how he's training every day, how much he's spending on training, I got really impressed. I don't know how old he is, like 60-years-old,, so I think I should do... especially as I'm an athlete.
"Especially after I moved to Faenza, tried to change my mind," he continues. "Last year, I felt fitness was kind of a limitation.
"Now we focus about fitness. Completely different schedule compared to previous, how I spend the off-season and feel much better.
"I already felt improvement in Barcelona. I think hopefully I'm in good shape now."