Star AlphaTauri driver Yuki Tsunoda had a fantastic race at the Belgian Grand Prix this past weekend as he finished tenth and claimed the all-important one point for his team. Even though the Japanese driver put up such an impressive performance, an F1 expert believes he is in trouble.
This is because the F1 pundit believes that the 23-year-old finds himself in a difficult situation because of the return of Daniel Ricciardo. Although the Australian had a relatively poor race at Spa this past weekend, he has yet again shown immense promise in just his second race on his return to the F1 grid.
The 34-year-old’s promising return does not bode well for Tsunoda, who is desperate to impress the Red Bull family and get the second seat on the team in the future. However, with Ricciardo having already been very impressive, the question now is whether the Milton Keynes outfit will give him preference over the inexperienced Tsunoda.
F1 expert explains why Yuki Tsunoda is in “trouble“
In the most recent episode of BBC’s Chequered Flag program after the Belgian Grand Prix, former McLaren mechanic Marc Priestly explained why he believes Yuki Tsunoda is in “a bit of trouble.” Priestly explained his point by referring to Daniel Ricciardo’s impressive performance in his second race with AlphaTauri.
Priestly believes that the Australian is already “very strong” in AlphaTauri and that he was “languishing” at the back during the Belgian GP this past weekend because of a mistake he made during qualifying. The former McLaren mechanic believes that had the 34-year-old not made that mistake; he would beat Tsunoda every time.
Priestly believes that these early signs of Ricciardo’s resurgence must be a “worry” for Tsunoda because of how “brutal” Red Bull can be. Hence, while the focus continues to be on AlphaTauri for the rest of the season, it is pertinent to note that the Japanese driver is cognizant of the same and is aware that just one of them can make it to the senior Red Bull team.
Tsunoda is ready to challenge Ricciardo for the Red Bull seat in the future
Ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix two weekends ago, Yuki Tsunoda had given an interview when he knew that he would line up alongside his new AlphaTauri teammate Daniel Ricciardo on the grid. During the interview, the Japanese driver explained how he was ready for the challenge and knew what was at stake.
“It’s easy, the fastest driver will have a better chance of going to Red Bull , that’s how Formula 1 works, that’s all,” said the 23-year-old in an interview (as quoted by soymotor.com). After stating the same, Tsunoda hailed Ricciardo for being a fantastic driver and said it would not be easy to beat the 34-year-old.
Considering that there is so much at stake for the two drivers, the spotlight will likely be on them for the rest of the 2023 season. Hence, if any of the two drivers were likely to impress in the rest of the season, they could get a call from Red Bull.
