Yuki Tsnuoda has the skills to win Formula 1 races, according to Red Bull consultant Helmut Marko – However, the Japanese driver still has to work hard for it
Yuki Tsunoda is one of the biggest talents in Formula 1, Red Bull consultant Helmut Marko is sure of that! The Austrian believes in the Japanese driver, who has the ability to finish first in the premier class one day. “He has the potential to win Grands Prix,” who also clarifies: “And that is, after all, our ambition in the junior programme. “
However, Marko is reluctant to predict whether the Japanese driver will one day be in a position to compete for the world championship title: “World champion, so many things have to fit together. There has to be another level more from the driver as an overall personality, because in a critical situation the driver can lift the whole team up or pull it along or bring it down.”
Tsunoda still needs to work on his mentality in particular, as he is considered an emotional driver who also stands out from time to time with outbursts of rage on the radio. “But Tsunoda is not the only driver who has problems in that area and who makes use of something like that,” said the Red Bull consultant about the psychological help the youngster is now resorting to.
Tsunoda an exception among the Japanese
“There’s nothing wrong with that,” Marko points out. “We have two Japanese in the squad and they couldn’t be more opposite. [Ayumu] Isawa drives on pole position and comes along afterwards: ‘Sorry to be there.’ Yuki is completely different. He doesn’t care about anything. He’s very emotional on the road – rather the exception for a Japanese.”
That’s also why Red Bull pulled the ripcord one day to get a grip on the emotional 22-year-old’s outbursts. “Swearing in English, that’s what he learned at Carlin,” Marko explains. “But if you curse and swear in the middle of a corner, it’s not good. Then you drive slower.”
It’s getting concrete: through a leak to the antitrust authorities, we know that Porsche will take over 50 per cent of Red Bull’s Formula One project! More Formula One videos
As a result, Red Bull has taken steps to help Tsunoda put an end to this attitude. “Also, the engineer can’t do anything with feedback like ‘bloody fucking car’,” Marko continued. “We need to know: What is the car doing exactly? He has to analyse that and then say it factually. “
Get cult status!
Although Tsunoda’s character is always causing offence, he is held in high regard by Marko and Red Bull: “Yuki has a certain cult status with us.” So far in the Formula 1 season, the Japanese driver has collected eleven points, his best result so far being a seventh place from Imola.
That puts the AlphaTauri driver and Red Bull junior in 16th place overall, one point behind Mick Schumacher. His team-mate Pierre Gasly is 13th with 16 points. Tsunoda last made it into the points in Barcelona, Spain, but has failed to score in the past seven races.
