Advantage: Yuki Tsunoda?

Following the shocking move by AlphaTauri to replace struggling rookie Nyck de Vries with veteran driver Daniel Ricciardo, much has been made about which driver — or drivers — should be worried the most. Is it Sergio Pérez at Red Bull, with his performance lacking in recent weeks and his contract set to run out at the end of 2024? Or perhaps Yuki Tsunoda, who might be under more of a microscope now with Ricciardo alongside him at AlphaTauri?

If the message was intended for Tsunoda, well, message received.

Tsunoda was one of the most impressive drivers in Friday’s second practice session, posting the fourth-best time of the afternoon. Only Charles Leclerc, Lando Norris, and Pierre Gasly finished ahead of Tsunoda.

Tsunoda also finished 0.699 seconds ahead of Ricciardo, with both drivers posting their best laps on the soft compound.

The performance needs some caveats, however, as it is unclear what programs the teams were running. That is the diplomatic approach Tsunoda took with his post-practice comments.

“I’m sure other teams didn’t show their full potential so it’s hard to know our position compared to the rest of the field, but so far, I’m happy how the sessions went today,” said Tsunoda in AlphaTauri’s post-practice debrief. “Hungary is hard on tyres, especially on the C5 soft tyre compound we’re using this weekend, but it allowed us to gather more data about the car, where I felt confident with the consistent balance throughout the long runs.”

However, he does believe that Friday was a step forward. “Overall, the step I felt going from the medium to the soft compound was a big, positive one compared to the season so far,” he added.

It was probably a big ask to expect much from Ricciardo in his first day behind the wheel of the AT04, which was reflected in his own post-practice comments. “I think the position isn’t too relevant at the moment. Today was more about feeling where I’m at with the car. Obviously, there’s a lot of outside attention, but as soon as I put the helmet on and got in the car, it felt familiar, like I had never left,” said Ricciardo. “Obviously, this morning we didn’t get anything except one lap in the dry, but this afternoon, the car felt ok and not too bad. I felt comfortable quite quickly and started to feel the limit of the car.”

The veteran driver is expecting more out of himself, and the car, on Saturday.

“Tomorrow I’ll get a bit more out of me, and there’s for sure some things about the car that we can improve on,” added Ricciardo. “We’ll do a bit of work tonight, but nothing crazy. Right now, I’m optimistic. Yuki had a good day, so if we put it all together tomorrow, we can do ok.”

When AlphaTauri made the move to Ricciardo, many speculated that it was due in part to wanting a better look at Tsunoda. While Tsunoda had outperformed De Vries in large part this season — out-qualifying him in seven of ten races while scoring the only points for the team this year — was that due to his growth as a driver, or to De Vries’ struggles on the track?

With Ricciardo in the fold, the team can now likely get a better gauge of Tsunoda’s progress.

And if the early returns are any indication, it seems that Tsunoda received the message, loud and clear.