Red Bull talents impress Marko; praise for Tsunoda and Lawson
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There has been much talk in recent months about who will be Max Verstappen's teammate in the coming years? Sergio Perez or Daniel Ricciardo, provided the latter makes a good impression as Nyck de Vries' replacement at AlphaTauri. But we certainly should not rule out Yuki Tsunoda either, according to Marko. The 80-year-old Austrian also goes on to talk about Liam Lawson.
Progression at Tsunoda
"Yuki Tsunoda has steadily improved, is largely in control of his emotions and is now also conditionally capable of driving a GP," Marko, speaking to Motorsport-Magazin. com, praised the Japanese driver. Tsunoda finished tenth three times this season and is currently 17th in the world championship with three points. All three points scored by AlphaTauri were due to the 23-year-old driver.
For 2024, Sergio Perez is still under contract with Red Bull anyway, so a seat will not become available at the Milton Keynes-based team until 2025 at the earliest. If Tsunoda continues his strong performance, he is definitely a driver to keep an eye on as a possible teammate of Verstappen. Tsunoda's current contract expires after this season and it seems likely that, if he continues like this, he could sign a new commitment.
That is because Tsunoda is linked to Honda and Honda is still involved with Red Bull Powertrains. So the Japanese brand still has a finger in the pie as a partner.
On Lawson
AlphaTauri's driver duo for next year is not yet known, as Ricciardo is only 'hired' from Red Bull until the end of the season. It could well be that one of these drivers (despite Tsunoda appearing fairly firmly in the saddle) will still disappear from the Faenza-based team, as Liam Lawson has also set his sights on an F1 seat with that team.
The New Zealander races in Japanese Super Formula and has a strong chance of winning the title in the highly regarded racing class. " We have alternatives, for example [Liam] Lawson, who is second in Japan and is very successful there and has made a big leap forward in his whole development since driving in Japan," Marko said.