Tsunoda insists de Vries 'had the pace' before axing

Yuki Tsunoda has insisted he "learned" from Nyck de Vries during their short stint as AlphaTauri teammates.

De Vries was dropped two days after the British Grand Prix and just 10 races into his time with the Faenza-based outfit, with eight-time F1 race winner Daniel Ricciardo his replacement.

The Dutchman had been under increasing pressure as one of only two drivers to have failed to register a points finish, with his performances blighted by a number of incidents.

His ousting opened the door for Ricciardo to return to the sport having parted ways with McLaren at the end of last season, switching to Red Bull to become third driver.

Addressing the change of teammate ahead of this weekend's Hungarian Grand Prix, Tsunoda said: "I'm looking forward to working with Daniel.

"I can't say I know him very well, but we had a fun day filming together earlier this year in Miami.

"I'll benefit from having a very good, experienced driver as a teammate. I'm sure I can learn lots of things from him and I also expect he will be able to bring something to the team and move the car development forward."

He had the pace

On de Vries' departure, Tsunoda added: "I would also like to say I had an enjoyable time over the past ten races with Nyck.

"I learned from him and we also had a good time away from the track. He had plenty of experience in other categories and gave the team good feedback based on his knowledge.

"He had the pace and, as a friend, I enjoyed my time with him."