“He is one of the drivers that I want to drive with”- Yuki Tsunoda on Max Verstappen

“He is one of the drivers that I want to drive with”- Yuki Tsunoda, mesmerized with Max Verstappen’s pace, would love to join him at Red Bull.

Yuki Tsunoda is one of the most exciting prospects in Formula1; bagging P3 in his debut season in F2 gained him an impressive reputation and earned him a spot in F1 with Alpha Tauri.

Tsunoda, who has also graduated from Red Bull’s programme like Max Verstappen, would like to join his senior in the main team when the time comes.

‘I know Max is speedy, and he is one of the drivers I want to drive with,’ Tsunoda told Sportsmail. ‘In the future, of course, Red Bull are an excellent team; they have a perfect car.”

“Hopefully, I can drive there one day and drive with Max, but he is in a different team and also has a different target. And I am thrilled to drive with AlphaTauri this year.”

‘So for me, I am just focusing on this year and focusing on beating my team-mate and trying to get as many points as possible. Hopefully, I can drive with Max in the future, but I am just focusing on this year with AlphaTauri. “

‘I think it is a really, really good team, especially in your first year, because they have lots of experience with the rookie drivers, and they know how to make the rookie drivers build up and grow up. So I want to work with them for now and perform well for them.’

I didn’t expect here to be so early.

Tsunoda is among those rare drivers who managed to grab a seat in F1 after spending only a season in F2, also considering that he doesn’t have his own personalized monetary backing; thus, it talks about his merit, but at the end of the day, even Tsunoda is in disbelief for reaching early.

‘I didn’t expect to get here this fast to become an F1 driver. When I was in F4 in Japan, of course, I always aimed to become an F1 driver, but I didn’t expect to be one at 20 years old,’ Tsunoda said.

‘So yeah, it is a dream come true. Now is my rookie year, so I want to push from the beginning. I am not worried about mistakes. I want to get a good experience and put it all together from the middle of the season until the end.

‘There is no reason to have any nerves because I don’t know what will happen. And I still don’t know how I can perform on the grid, so I am just looking forward to it; I am not afraid. Just focus on my driving now and on my performance.

About the author

Tanish Chachra

Tanish Chachra is the Motorsport editor at The SportsRush. He saw his first race when F1 visited India in 2011, and since then, his romance with the sport has been seasonal until he took up this role in 2020. Reigniting F1's coverage on this site, Tanish has fallen in love with the sport all over again. He loves Kimi Raikkonen and sees a future world champion in Oscar Piastri. Away from us, he loves to snuggle inside his books.

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