Red Bull won't "burn" rough diamond Tsunoda in F1
Red Bull insists it will not ‘burn’ Yuki Tsunoda by promoting him from AlphaTauri too quickly, despite his impressive Formula 1 debut.
The Japanese youngster marked himself out as a future star with a great showing at last weekend’s Bahrain Grand Prix.
He set the second fastest time in Q1 and finished the race in ninth place, having pulled off a great overtaking move on Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll on the final lap.
Tsunoda’s pace and the hype surrounding him has already prompted suggestions he could be in the frame to step up to the main Red Bull team from 2022.
However, Red Bull’s motorsport advisor Helmut Marko has urged caution about such talk, despite clearly believing that Tsunoda has a bright future.
Marko remains well aware of the fact that Daniil Kvyat, Pierre Gasly and Alex Albon have all failed to reach their full potential at Red Bull after being promoted and there is a sense to not rush things this time.
In an exclusive interview with Autosport’s German language sister site Formel1.de, Marko praised the impact that Tsunoda had made but said Red Bull was ready to be patient.
“The way he goes about it, the way he makes the car fly [is fantastic],” Marko said about Tsunoda. “He's also a charismatic, funny guy. We are very happy to have him.”
Asked about the prospect of a 2022 drive at Red Bull, he replied: “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.”
Yuki Tsunoda, AlphaTauri AT02 and Sebastian Vettel, Aston Martin AMR21
Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images
A move to Red Bull for Tsunoda would be bad news for Sergio Perez, who is currently on a one-year deal to drive for Red Bull this season.
The Mexican had a mixed weekend in Bahrain, after getting dumped out of qualifying in Q2 before recovering well in the race to take fifth place.
Marko said that in terms of race pace there were no concerns about Perez, but the key for him now was putting a lap together in qualifying.
“The race speed is on the same level as Verstappen,” said Marko. “When he was in free air, he set the same times, so, so far, so good. Unfortunately, it wasn't like that in qualifying.
“The positive thing was that he lost most of his time in one turn, Turn 1. Already during testing, in sector three, he was faster than Max on average. The only issue is: you have to get the lap together.
“But we are convinced that he will get much closer to Max in qualifying as well.”
Related video
Previous article
Mercedes hopes to find F1 gains from augmented reality push
Next article
Alonso has "a lot of room to improve" form during F1 return
About this article
| Series | Formula 1 |
| Drivers | Yuki Tsunoda |
| Teams | Red Bull Racing |
| Author | Jonathan Noble |
The toe-in-water origins of Lotus’s groundbreaking F1 journey
In the first part of our history of Lotus, DAMIEN SMITH recalls how Formula 1 wasn’t an immediate priority for team founder Colin Chapman – but once he got a taste for it he just couldn’t stop…
How Hamilton’s qualifying record compares to Senna and Schumacher
Lewis Hamilton has just become the first driver to record 100 world championship Formula 1 pole positions. Time to revisit a debate we discussed when he reached 150 front row starts in 2020.
Why sustainability is being mandated by F1
Continuing to be socially acceptable as public views shift globally is vitally important to the future of motor racing, says PAT SYMONDS - especially in Formula 1, the championship that represents the technological peak
The Barcelona practice times that prove Red Bull's title credentials, and heap pressure on Verstappen
Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes led the way in Friday practice for the 2021 Spanish Grand Prix, but there was one big encouraging sign for Red Bull. The trouble is, it looks like making good on that gain will require its superstar driver to avoid repeating a mistake made today that left him well down the FP2 order
Why McLaren doesn’t doubt Ricciardo can escape his ‘dark’ place
Three points finishes from as many starts represents a decent opening innings on paper, but Daniel Ricciardo has endured a tough start to his McLaren career - only magnified his team-mate's excellent form. Yet both he and the team have good reason to expect a turnaround soon
What needs to “change” for Red Bull is ending Verstappen’s errors
OPINION: Going up against the dominant force of Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton was always going to demand the best from Red Bull and Max Verstappen. But after making a couple more errors during the Portuguese Grand Prix, the Dutch driver showed there's a small gap he still needs to close in the 2021 Formula 1 title fight
The "subtle" Red Bull upgrades that kept it in the Portugal F1 mix
Red Bull's Portuguese Grand Prix fortunes were decidedly second best to Mercedes', but the result skews the potential that the team had at Portimao. With a new set of updates, the team looks good going forward into the rest of 2021's spicy F1 competition
Portuguese Grand Prix Driver Ratings
The 2021 Portuguese GP will for several drivers go down as a weekend of missed opportunities amid imperfect track conditions that caused struggles with tyre warmup. But the performances of a select few stood out from the crowd
