Yuki will be ready to push Teammate Pierre in F1
Formula 2 team boss Trevor Carlin predicts new AlphaTauri Formula 1 recruit Yuki Tsunoda will be pushing team-mate Pierre Gasly hard within a few races next season.
Carlin has watched Tsunoda become the 27th driver to graduate from his steam, and he thinks the Japanese ace will shine.
“He’s been an absolute pleasure to work with,” said Carlin to Autosport.com
“We’ve only had him for one season, and he did everything and more than what we expected. Time will tell where he ends up in the pecking order, but I think he’s got a very exciting future ahead of him, and as long as he’s not overwhelmed by the F1 environment, I see no reason why he can’t match what Lando is doing, and you never know, he could have a little bit of Max in him. The speed he learns and understands the car, he’s got the natural ability, so it’s just a case of tailoring it to each championship and then getting on with it. If he picks up F1 as fast as he picked up F2 then I think he’ll be giving Pierre a good run for his money once they get back to Europe.”
The Japanese and Honda backed star steps up to F1 after finishing third in F2, one position lower than Carlin’s previous graduate Lando Norris.
Carlin also thinks that he can push Lando next season given the speed and talent the driver has.
“He is lacking a bit of experience compared to Lando, but his overall pace and understanding of driving a racing car is there. He’s ready to go, for sure.”
Next year we will likely see Jehan Daruvala team up with Dan Ticktum. This should see again another strong pairing for the team.
“We haven’t signed anybody yet, but that’s our preferred line-up given a following wind and sorting the details out,” said Carlin.
“They’re certainly right at the top of our list – I’d be very happy to go with both those guys. We’ve known Dan for a long time – he’s a friend of the team anyway. Dan is a very very good racer, and because of that next year could be a good year for him, because effectively we’ve got two reversed-grid races each weekend.”
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Credit: Motorsport Network
