Yuki Tsunoda has been coming under increasing pressure recently following the meteoric rise of Liam Lawson. The New Zealander has only competed in three races so far and has already scored two points for the team. In stark contrast, the Japanese driver has so far only managed to score three points after the first 15 races of the season. Since Lawson has been so impressive in such a short period of time, Glenn Freeman has warned Tsunoda on the latest episode of The Race F1 podcast that he could be running out of time in F1 if he does not “step up“.
Even though the 23-year-old is already into the third year of his contract at AlphaTauri, he is yet to impress. His most impressive season came back in 2021 when he finished 14th in the championship and scored 32 points.
Although AlphaTauri‘s car has been much worse since the beginning of 2022, Tsunoda has yet struggled massively. The Japanese driver has had various retirements and has been very inconsistent. Moreover, with Lawson now impressing from the outset, Tsunoda will need to prove that he deserves the second seat at AlphaTauri.
F1 expert claims Yuki Tsunoda is running out of time
On the most recent episode of The Race F1 podcast, the presenters were discussing the future of the AlphaTauri team. They began by discussing about how Daniel Ricciardo needs to be at his absolute best when he returns from injury to prove to the Italian outfit that he deserves his seat. After discussing the same, they then shared their opinion about Yuki Tsunoda’s future.
Glenn Freeman said, “When you have been in F1 for as long as Yuki has, you do need to start showing something. You need to show much more consistency and that you have got another level to find. This does feel a little bit harsh, but F1 is a harsh business. Plenty of drivers at Yuki’s level, the level that he has shown us so far, would not be afforded the amount of time that he has had. So, I do feel that he is getting low on time if he does not make a big step up“.
Yuki Tsunoda on Daniel Ricciardo:
“He can definitely tell more details about how the car is behaving. I think the engineers like it, especially how he talks and helps the development side. If the team wants to develop the car more to be competitive, maybe Daniel.”
“If they… pic.twitter.com/9eSwaDlamE
— Fastest Pitstop (@FastestPitStop) September 21, 2023
Even though Freeman believes that Tsunoda is running out of time, the 23-year-old does have his future at AlphaTauri secured for the next season. Meanwhile, reports suggest that Daniel Ricciardo also has the second seat at the Italian outfit secure for the next year.
AlphaTauri likely to extend Daniel Ricciardo’s contract as well
According to ESPN, AlphaTauri are most likely to announce Daniel Ricciardo’s extension for another year soon. The report states that with the Italian outfit all set to confirm both Yuki Tsunoda and the Australian for 2024, the future of Liam Lawson is in huge doubt.
As quoted by espn.in, the New Zealander has already made it clear that he is not keen on being a reserve driver for another season. While Lawson understands how hard it is to get into F1, he does believe he has done enough to get a race seat in one of the teams.
