Yuki Tsunoda has clearly dominated Nyck de Vries in the early part of this season

Nyck de Vries will have only lasted 10 Grand Prix at AlphaTauri [official, Daniel Ricciardo replaces Nyck de Vries at AlphaTauri for the remainder of the F1 2023 season], before falling victim to the rule of Red Bull and Helmut Marko. In difficulty throughout the early season, Yuki Tsunoda also played a role in the Dutchman’s premature departure as he was faster than him. Yet, last year, the Japanese driver sometimes struggled against Pierre Gasly.

AlphaTauri offers a complicated car at the beginning of this year. Undoubtedly the worst team in the early 2023 season. They are in last position in the Constructors’ Championship with only 2 points. These 2 points were scored by Yuki Tsunoda and not by Nyck De Vries. This is a problem, and not the only one. We know how valuable it is to score points in a small team. Valuable because it brings money and sponsors. Yuki Tsunoda was able to drive flawlessly several times to bring in those 2 points, which was not the case for Nyck De Vries.

Their face-off in qualifications

In qualifying, Nyck de Vries never really had the pace. Only 3 appearances in Q2 for the Dutch driver compared to several for Tsunoda, including 2 appearances in Q3. Unfortunately, there was no comparison for de Vries.

In simple terms, Nyck de Vries has an average qualifying position of 17th, compared to 14th for his teammate Yuki Tsunoda. It’s difficult to hope for points when starting from such a distant position for the Dutch driver. Despite a few bright moments, de Vries hasn’t managed to do any better.

Their face-off in the race

But the problem for the Dutchman was certainly his race pace. He was never able to drive faster than his Japanese teammate, and this was a significant factor for Helmut Marko in his decision to sideline him. Tsunoda finished ahead of de Vries in the race 8 times, compared to only 2 times for the Dutchman.

In other words, Nyck de Vries’ average finishing position was between 15th and 16th place, far from the points. His teammate Yuki Tsunoda has a 13th place as his average finishing position. The difference is there. The Japanese driver was able to maximize the performance of his AlphaTauri.

The Dutchman also destroyed the car several times, which proves to be extremely expensive for AlphaTauri. His black weekend was in Baku, Azerbaijan, where he hit the wall with his car twice. First on Friday in qualifying, then on Sunday at the start of the Grand Prix. Tsunoda, with two full seasons under his belt, has not had such track outings, and that is a significant difference.

Lacking pace in qualifying, struggling in the race, and plagued by uncertainties, Nyck de Vries was unable to resist Red Bull and their ruthless management that leaves no chance. On the other side of the garage, Yuki Tsunoda has made significant progress since his arrival in Formula 1 in 2021. However, nothing is guaranteed for him yet. He will need to impress his bosses by the end of the season to secure another year.