AlphaTauri boss Franz Tost claims Yuki Tsunoda is the only one who can save his career from here as he enters into his sophomore year.
Yuki Tsunoda caused a sensation in his rookie F2 season in 2020, which led to his immediate rise into F1 in 2021. However, the Japanese race driver hasn’t been as impressive as he was expected to be.
Moreover, there have been some discipline issues that have surfaced over time. Now, as Tsunoda enters into his second year in F1, it seems like it’s his last chance to survive in the sport.
AlphaTauri boss Franz Tost also agrees and claims that it’s in the hands of Tsunoda only to safeguard his career in the apex tier of motorsport.
“I can only say that Yuki is a really fantastic driver,” Tost said. “Now, it’s also in his hands what he is making out of this because to have talent is one story. I know a couple of F1 drivers that were really talented, but they won maybe one race or even no race.
“As a Formula 1 driver, you cannot do enough physical training. Nutrition is essential, to be really disciplined. And the complete way of life must be 100% matching what Formula 1 requests.
“This is now in his hands. We can only advise him, but then he has to do it by himself. And this is where you will see [if he] can become a real top star. From the driving side he can do it. Now it’s up to him.”
Yuki Tsunoda had an amazing season
However, Tost also wants to debunk the belief that Tsunod had a poor rookie season. He claims that because of Pierre Gasly as a teammate, an exceptional and much more experienced driver, he looked inferior.
“Yuki’s season is a fantastic example of a rookie season,” Tost explained. “It was in the past always the same, but this year was the first time that there was a very experienced driver on the side of a rookie.
“Normally we started with two rookies or a driver with one year of experience and then the difference was not so obvious. “What happened with Yuki is totally easy to explain. [In Bahrain] he did a good race, finished ninth, everything fantastic.
“It was clear for me a crash would come soon, because Yuki drove already on the limit. But it’s always the same with young drivers. We tell them ‘hey, you are on the limit’ and I know exactly what Yuki had in his head. After Bahrain he thought – and that’s typical for young drivers – ‘huh, Formula 1 is not so difficult’.”
Also read: Yuki Tsunoda reveals that his mid-season move to Italy helped him improve his performance
