Yuki Tsunoda stunned by Franz Tost’s impressive fitness regime

Franz Tost is 44 years Yuki Tsunoda’s senior, but that does not stop the AlphaTauri boss from showing the driver up when it comes to fitness.

The physical requirements to be a Formula 1 athlete can be very demanding, with drivers routinely experiencing Gs of up to four and five during braking. Not to mention the extreme heat that comes from being within the car and wearing multiple layers of skin-tight fireproof clothing.

Tsunoda was one who took a while to get used to the demands his new sport was asking of him and became the star of an infamous episode of Netflix’s ‘Drive to Survive’ in which the English town of Milton Keynes was criticised for not being the best home for the sport’s newest star.

Yet, following his move to Italy to be closer to the team’s base, Tsunoda has matured and improved his fitness in the 2022 season – but that does not mean he still cannot be shown up by his 66-year-old boss.

Tsunoda toldThe Racein March that Tost was in better shape than he was and if the Japanese driver’s most recent comments suggest something, it is that fact has not changed.

“He runs 10 kilometres at 5:30 in the morning, which I’ve never done before,” the AlphaTauri driver toldMotorsport-total.com. “The way he trains every day, how much he puts into his training, I was really impressed. I don’t know how old he is, around 60 years old (Tost is 66).

“I’m trying to change my body. Last year, fitness was kind of a limitation. So I’m really focusing on that. The schedule is totally different compared to previous years – how I spend the off-season, and I feel much better.”

Tsunoda’s efforts have not gone unnoticed as Tost previously said a bit of naivety in terms of fitness is natural for new F1 drivers but that the 22-year-old was on the right track now.

“He’s a young driver coming into Formula 1, completely surprised by the forces he’s exposed to in Formula 1,” Tost said.

“It’s braking, fast corners, slow corners with right-left forces against the neck and so on. But Yuki was fit last year, otherwise he wouldn’t have finished ninth in Bahrain. But of course he realised, like all the other young drivers, you have to train more.”

Tsunoda moved from England to Italy halfway through his rookie seasonand has credited his inability to order from UberEats as a main factor behind his fitness improvement.

“Yuki, he came to Faenza and his trainer was with him,” Tost said.

“He had to train twice a day, in the morning and in the afternoon, until it was very good. The physical fitness because of the training improves. Therefore, I think Yuki this year is in very good shape.

“But once more, he was not so bad last year, it’s just as a newcomer in F1 – and you can ask all the others as well – it’s something new.”