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Red Bull won't "burn" rough diamond Tsunoda with hasty promotion
Red Bull insists it will not ‘burn’ Yuki Tsunoda by promoting him from AlphaTauri too quickly, despite his impressive Formula 1 debut.
Jonathan Noble Christian Nimmervoll
Edited: Apr 4, 2021, 3:07 AM
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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 inside the points 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.
For with Marko 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, there is an eagerness not to rush things this time.
In an exclusive interview with Motorsport.com’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],” said Marko 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.”
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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 race pace terms there were no concerns about Perez at all, but the key for him now was pulling 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.”
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