‘Special pedal kit’ being developed for Tsunoda

Yuki Tsunoda confirmed that AlphaTauri are developing a “special pedal kit” in order to make him more comfortable in the AT02.

In the world of Formula 1 where every little millimetre counts, the cockpit can become a tight squeeze for the drivers. Just askGeorge Russellwho encountered that issue during his one-off drive for Mercedes at the 2020 Sakhir Grand Prix.

At 6.1 feet tall, Russell was tightly packed into the cockpit of the W11, and was even using boots that were too small for him.

But Tsunoda, who makes his Formula 1 debut with AlphaTauri this season, has encountered issues on the other end of the scale.

At just over five feet tall, Tsunoda is comfortably the smallest driver on the grid, and as suchAlphaTaurihave been working to make him more comfortable in the cockpit of the AT02.

他透露,作为其中的一部分,AlphaTaurire developing a “special pedal kit” for him.

“For the pedals, I’m having a really special pedal kit,” he is quoted byGPFans.

“Compared to Pierre [Gasly] there is a lot of difference for height so that is why they are trying to make a really different way for the pedals.”

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As well as the pedal problem, Tsunoda also ran into an issue with the fuel system on his AlphaTauri during the first day, restricting him to only 37 laps.

“The first day it was quite a big issue which was the fuel tank system and I had to stop the session,we decided after 37 laps it was a day,” he recalled.

“[Day two] was also, not from the engine, but gearbox, pedals and also a little bit engine when I was doing push laps. So there was a couple of issues.”

On the final day of testing though Tsunoda put himself among the headlines with someblistering paceas he turned up the power in the afternoon.

In a spell of push laps he would record a fastest time of a 1:29.053 on the softest C5 compound. That was less than a tenth down on Max Verstappen’s 1:28.960 on the C4s which gave the Dutchman the fastestoverall time of testing.

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