“The first year for a newcomer in Formula 1 will be very tough”- Franz Tost expecting a difficult 2021 for F1 rookie Yuki Tsunoda.
Yuki Tsunoda in less than a year in F2 has impressed the bosses at Red Bull to give him a shot in Formula 1, and in 2021, the Japanese driver is making his debut for Alpha Tauri by replacing Daniil Kvyat.
Considering Tsunoda was a rookie in Formula 2, his third-place finish in the table was impressive, making him win Anthoine Hubert rookie of the year award.
So far, Tsunoda appears to be a fast and talented driver, but Alpha Tauri boss Franz Tost wants to keep the hype low. He has claimed that he is expecting a tough year for Tsunoda in F1.
“The first year for a newcomer in Formula 1 will be very tough,” said Tost as per the GPFans. “For example, you come to Melbourne having jet lag, a new race track and also, all day long media and marketing appointments.
“Also the technical side of the race car, this takes a while for a driver to get a handle these processes,” he added.
Lack of testing is problematic for the rookies.
A single three-days test will precede the 2021 season, a 50 percent reduction from the previous year testing time, and Tost believes it will be a problem for all three rookies debuting this year against the other experienced drivers.
“[The lack of testing] means for a young driver he needs a lot of mental strength but also it will be very physically and challenging for the first races.”
Though Tost admits that there are challenges on the way for Tsunoda, he also expects him to bag points on the familiar tracks in Europe, like Barcelona and Silverstone.
“It will be hard in the beginning when he doesn’t know the race tracks,” said Tost. “But with the second part of the season when he knows Barcelona, Silverstone, Austria and Hungary where he races with Formula 2, I hope he will challenge Pierre and be close to him.
“I expect that he then also makes it to qualifying three and he starts collecting points for the team.”
