Tsunoda faces challenge: 'That could be the key in Monza'

Yuki Tsunoda is hoping to perform strongly at the Italian Grand Prix in Monza, despite the grid penalty he faces. The Japanese rider will be looking to put his retirement from the Dutch GP behind him and focus on AlphaTauri's home race.

Tsunoda saw his race at Zandvoort end prematurely due to a problem with the differential. Not only was he reprimanded for driving with a loose seatbelt, but he was also met with a wave of invective and accusations because his retirement was supposedly very convenient for Max Verstappen.

Tsunoda faces challenge

As it was his fifth reprimand of the year, the Japanese will start the Italian GP with a ten-place grid penalty. However, he is not discouraged by it. "I am very keen to be able to race at what is another home track for us, after Imola. I’m excited about it, I know the team is too, so we have good motivation going into this weekend," said Tsunoda in an AlphaTauri press release.

Tsunoda expects overtaking to be easier given the new rules, but at the same time fears he could get stuck in a DRS train. He also predicts that everyone will try to take advantage of a slipstream in qualifying. "How we handle that tricky situation could be the key to qualifying well," said the AlphaTauri driver.