F1 | AlphaTauri: Tsunoda explains the interventions made by the team to adapt the cockpit

One of the new features on the grid for the 2021 season is Yuki Tsunoda, the young Japanese talent who will make his Formula 1 debut with AlphaTauri this weekend. After having stunned in the preparatory categories, convincing the experts and the Red Bull managers to bet on him, Tsunoda is expected to make an important step, that of the top series. New cars, new working methods and new opponents are the challenges that await the driver from Tokyo, but to be able to drive the AT02 specific modifications were necessary, in order to adapt the cockpit to his stature, the shortest of the entire grid.

This certainly does not represent a problem, but to make it as comfortable as possible inside the cockpit, his team intervened by making some changes, which Tsunoda himself explained during the Thursday interviews: “First of all, we had to put a lot of sponge inside the cockpit to raise my driving position, so that I could have a better view. Also, we made some modifications to the pedals so that I could reach them,” said the AlphaTauri driver.

Although his height could have represented an advantage in the past, especially from a weight point of view, the latest regulatory changes have canceled out this advantage, as the Japanese himself was keen to point out: "We worked hard to arrive at the perfect seat for me, but there are no particular advantages. I don't see any advantages because the FIA ​​decides where the weight needs to be distributed and you can't change it at will. For this reason, even if there is a small advantage, it is nothing special. From an aerodynamic point of view, I don't see many differences, especially because especially now the cars are made for tall drivers,” Tsunoda added.