Marko Claims He 'Always Believed In' Tsunoda Who Is Now Being 'Noticed' On Driver Market
F1Tuesday, 26 March 2024 at 10:31
Red Bull boss Helmut Marko, whose word matters when it comes to driver selection, suggested after the 2024 Australian Grand Prix that he always believed in Yuki Tsunoda.
After a controversial end to the Bahrain Grand Prix weekend and a failed race in Saudi Arabia, Yuki Tsundoa wanted to show what he's got during the third race of the season at Albert Park Circuit in Melbourne.
And that's precisely what he did. The Japanese driver drove a fantastic qualifying session, knocking Lewis Hamilton out of Q2 to take his place in Q3 and scoring P8 in the end.
Starting from such a high position on the grid, the 23-year-old was in a prime position to deliver an excellent result for his team, and he did exactly that as he profited from Hamilton's and Max Verstappen's retirement and Fernando Alonso's 20-second penalty.
He drove a consistent race, and in the end, he secured six points for his RB team, which moved them to P6 in the Constructors' Championship. Helmut Marko wrote in his column for speedweek.com:
"Daniel's speed has improved, but Yuki is currently riding at a very high level - and remains error-free. Franz Tost and I always believed in him; his speed was always beyond doubt for us."
"His problems were lack of control, outbursts and proneness to errors. All of that is gone this season. Yuki came to Europe very young and that is very, very hard for a Japanese person.
Tsunoda's future is uncertain at the moment as his contract expires at the end of the season. However, he shows great potential by beating his much more experienced eight-time Grand Prix winner teammate.
Consequently, it only makes sense that the 23-year-old is "being noticed" on the driver market, as the advisory of the Red Bull Racing F1 team added:
"It's a completely different life for us. But now things are working, and Yuki is being noticed on the driver market."
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