Franz Tost claims Yuki Tsunoda is almost ready for a Red Bull move
Franz Tost, team principal of AlphaTauri, believes Yuki Tsunoda is making the necessary progress to be considered for a Red Bull seat in the near future.
It’s Tsunoda’s third season in F1. After Pierre Gasly left the Red Bull team program to join Alpine, he took on an official team leadership role with AlphaTauri.
He struggled in his rookie season. However, he was given another chance and became a more confident and reliable driver. The Japanese driver has improved and shown strong results in recent races. Tsunoda could have finished higher in the Australian GP if not for the red flag. The AlphaTauri driver made a brilliant final restart, and without the red flag, he would have finished P5.
After the Australian GP, Franz Tost spoke to Sports1 about Tsunoda’s move to Red Bull. “As far as I know, Sergio Perez still has a contract for next year. All I can say is that Yuki is on the right track. He has improved in every respect. But I think he should drive at AlphaTauri again in 2024. In 2025, I think he will finally be ready for Red Bull.”
Seems like Red Bull team principal Christian Horner is happy with his driver lineup. He stated in an interview last month that he is convinced his two drivers will continue to work well together for the team. As a result, Yuki must show his potential and outperform his new teammate Nyck de Vries to become a contender for the Red Bull seat.
De Vries brings Mercedes experience. He was their third driver and kept a close eye on Lewis Hamilton. In addition, he won the Formula E championship in the 2020-21 season. Nevertheless, In the first three rounds of the season, it is evident that de Vries has struggled to keep up with Tsunoda in his rookie season in F1, and despite the lack of pace in AT04, Yuki is far ahead and fights for higher places.
In the end, everything depends on whether he has matured and learned his lessons in F1.