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Marko over the moon: "We have an incredible diamond"
- GPblog.com
Helmut Marko thinks he has gold in his hands with Yuki Tsunoda. The Japanese driver raced in Formula 2 last year and just missed out on the title, which went to Mick Schumacher. Tsunoda makes his debut in Formula 1 this year, replacing Daniil Kvyat who left for Alpine.
Since 2017, the 20-year-old talent has been backed by Honda, before winning the title a year later in Japan's Formula 4 Championship. Tsunoda moved to Europe in 2019 for Formula 3 and in 2020 he was deemed ready to drive for the Carlin team. In his debut year in the entry-level class, he finished third.
We know from Marko that he doesn't look at age or experience and now Tsunoda drives alongside Pierre Gasly for AlpaTauri. In the first Grand Prix weekend in Bahrain, he immediately grabbed two points. "The way he goes about it, the way he makes the car fly [is fantastic]. He's also a charismatic, funny guy. We are very happy to have him”, Marko said in a conversation with Motorsport-Total.com.
Can Tsunoda dream of a switch?
Marko hopes to have found the successor to Verstappen with Tsunoda. Gasly and Alexander Albon were less convincing, although they both got the chance at Red Bull after one year. Whether a promotion after one year is again a realistic scenario? "We’ve had the first of 23 races, so let's see how things develop. We have an incredible rough diamond in Yuki. We're not going to burn him. We will look at the development and then make our decisions in a timely manner.”
Sergio Perez has signed a one-year contract as Max Verstappen's teammate, so there is a chance that Tsunoda will drive for Red Bull in 2022. However, much will also depend on the performance of the 31-year-old Mexican himself in the RB16B. Besides Tsunoda, Gasly is also a candidate for a switch to the Austrian racing team.