Yuki Tsunoda impresses in his debut season in Formula 2. With third place in the championship, he is well on his way to securing a Formula 1 license. For this, the Japanese must finish at least fourth in Formula 2 and drive three hundred kilometers in a Formula 1 car. Red Bull will take care of the latter by letting Tsunoda take part in the young driver test in Abu Dhabi and offering him a test day on the Wednesday after the Grand Prix in Imola. Team boss Trevor Carlin of the eponymous team sees his young driver already driving in Formula 1.
“Yuki (a Red Bull and Honda protégé, ed.) Is a perfect fit for AlphaTauri. I think he is the fastest driver there is,” Carlin told the news agency. Reuters. The team boss does have an explanation why the Japanese is nevertheless ‘only’ third in the rankings. “He’s just dropped out too many times and been involved in many incidents, which cost him the championship.”
The fact that a team wants to use a protégé of the engine supplier has happened more often in Formula 1. Honda will supply engines to Red Bull and AlphaTauri this season and next season, but will then leave the sport as a brand. However, Carlin thinks that the power source will be in the back of the cars of both teams the following year, but under a different name. “I can imagine that Red Bull will still use the Honda engine after next season, but it will be called differently.”
But even apart from that support, Tsunoda is ready for a Formula 1 debut, Carlin thinks. “He learns so quickly. He is the first driver to really come in in a thunderous way. He is fighting for the title as a rookie and a Japanese driver has not done that for a long time.”
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