Tsunoda reveals how Alonso 'BLEW UP his brain'

Yuki Tsunoda has explained how Fernando Alonso 'blew my brains up' during the 2022 season.

The AlphaTauri driver joined the grid in 2020, and he has finished in the top 15 in the opening three races of the 2023 season.

Speaking on the Beyond the Grid Podcast, the Japanese driver spoke about how he has idolised Alonso since he started watching the sport.

"I’m a fan of Fernando because my dad loves Fernando. When I went to the Suzuka Grand Prix when I was 12, my dad was saying that Fernando’s driving out of the last corner was consistently close to the white line and he was nailing every lap," he said.

"Since then, I watched Fernando, and I still can’t believe I’m racing with him. It’s just incredible. I didn’t expect at that point that I’d be racing with him in 13 years.

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"I wanted to do a helmet swap since I became a Formula 1 driver, but I was too nervous to ask him to swap the helmets. One point, maybe last year, he actually said ‘Yuki, let’s do a helmet swap!’ Literally, my brain blows up, and I tried not to show my happiness fully in front of him.

"It feels a bit embarrassing, but yeah, in my heart I was just really happy and after that day I just called straight away to dad. And I still can’t believe I’m racing with him, just incredible."

Tsunoda's on his love of the battle

Tsunoda spoke about his strengths that come from his karting days and how he has transferred these skills to F1.

During the 2021 Hungary race, Tsunoda tried to hold off Lewis Hamilton, but was eventually overtaken.

He said that after he was passed by the Brit, he learnt a lot from how Alonso defended his position from Hamilton further up the road.

"My strength comes from karting. I really like to battle, and I don't lose much when battle happens. I also learn a lot from other drivers, especially after I stepped up to Formula 1, especially from Fernando Alonso," he said.

"In Hungary 2021, when Lewis tried to overtake me, obviously I tried everything I can to defend as much as possible, but he passed me after four laps. After Lewis passed me, Fernando was defending from Lewis, and I learned a lot from it.

"Car positioning and where he was trying to gain from Lewis before he got overtaken. I learned lots of things from him, and there was another situation at the Turkey Grand Prix, where I had to defend from Lewis. I tried to copy Fernando as much as possible, and I was able to defend from him for eight laps that time."

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