Formula 2 chief on Yuki going to Red Bull: 'Hope it's going to be okay'

Formula 2 CEO, Bruno Michel, sees as 'great news' the amount of F1 teams that have taken the chance to trust in F2 drivers, and shares his thoughts on Red Bull Racing's driver situation regarding Yuki Tsunoda and Liam Lawson.

"It's always great news," said Michel in response to a question from GPblog regarding Tsunoda's promotion to Red Bull.

"What was the greatest news we had this year was to have five drivers coming from F2 into Formula 1. And that's something that we never had in the past."

'Historic number of F2 drivers being promoted to F1'

With Alpine's Jack Doohan, Haas' Oliver Bearman, Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto, Racing Bulls' Isack Hadjar, and Mercedes' Andrea Kimi Antonelli it is a historic number indeed. However, it's one the Frenchman modestly rejects taking the credit for. "I couldn't say we're proud of that because at the end of the day, it's the level of the drivers that is making this difference.

"And it's also the fact that in F1 for a few years, you had very, very limited seats available. And that, suddenly this year, the F1 teams decided to renew quite a lot the F1 grid and to trust the F2 drivers to be able to take over the positions in F1. And for me, that's really the most important thing to see."

How have the rookies done so far? Michel weighs in, outlining what the future - a seat in a top team - may potentially hold for them.

"I think so far, all of them have been doing a pretty good job. We're waiting to see them moving along, and sometimes you have drivers arriving in less competitive teams and they do one year, two years there, like Charles Leclerc did or like George Russell did before reaching a Ferrari or Mercedes. And I think for me it's a great joy to see that, absolutely."

F2 CEO hopes Tsunoda at Red Bull 'will be fine'

It's often referred to as the toughest job in Formula 1, to take the second seat at Red Bull next to Max Verstappen, a duty that has been vistowed on Japanese driver, Tsunoda.

In his debut for the Austrian team he fell in Q2 and was then unable to get into the top 10 the following day during the Grand Prix, mainly due to Red Bull opting to set up the Japanese's car for the rain, which never played a role in the race itself.

"To see Yuki coming into Red Bull, I hope it's going to be fine. But I was happy to see Liam being in Red Bull as well. So, I cannot say. After that, it's out of our hands and it's the different teams who are deciding, but it's good for us," concluded Michel.

Read also

Verstappen enjoys padel with new teammate Tsunoda in Bahrain!

Key Tsunoda ally: 'He's more intelligent than people think'