Understeer and being different to teammates: How I Race with Tuukka Taponen

6 April 2026

Tuukka Taponen has a different way of doing things as he explains in his edition of How I Race.

The MP Motorsport driver recently sat down to talk all things driving style, and explained why understeer can be a positive, but only if your team is willing to back you.

UNDERSTEER BEING USED FOR GOOD

“All my teammates know how I want the car to be because I'm a bit different compared to many others. I want the car to be pretty stable and a stable car means that there is a bit more understeer.

“I'm a bit different compared to many others let's say. But there are drivers that likes this way I'm having. It's a bit different for qualifying and for the race, because you cannot have the same car for both.

“Good amount of understeer is in my opinion very good. Obviously if it's too much then it's slow. But my driving style gives me more front than someone else.

Taponen spoke about how his driving style is very different to that of his teammate

“My way to drive is actually a bit more already oversteery. So that's why I need to have the car maybe a bit more understeery to balance it a bit.”

NEEDING THE TEAMS BACKING

“Since I moved up to single seaters it has been like this. I have felt that it has worked well as long as I do not have the same car as my teammates.

“If I need to drive maybe the same car as my teammates, I cannot extract the most. I cannot show my full potential.

“I can probably live with it but I cannot show the potential. When I have the car a bit more how I want I'm capable of showing very strong performances instead.

“Every team has a different philosophy on building the car, even though the cars are the same. It sounds weird but everyone has their own way of doing it. It's a matter of adaptation.

The Finnish driver spoke about the need for his team to support him in his setup direction

“As I said, maybe if I need to adapt too much I cannot show my full potential. That's why I want the team to fully support me, to be fully behind me, understanding me.

“I want to be in a good position in the team. So if they understand the way I'm driving, they can also help me with that in terms of car setups. They can set up the car a bit more the way I am, and that helps me perform at the top.”

ADAPTING SETUPS BETWEEN QUALIFYING AND RACES

“No, actually I think for qualifying you can be a bit more aggressive in terms of the balance and aggressive a bit more on the front. Because you have just one lap or maybe two in some tracks.

“If you have the same car for a race your tyres won't stay alive the whole race. You need to save a bit more the tyres.”