Purple Bull advisor Helmut Marko has claimed Yuki Tsunoda is the primary team-mate of Max Verstappen who has the potential to match the tempo of the four-time champion.
Tsunoda was referred to as up rather than Liam Lawson after the opening two rounds of the marketing campaign because the New Zealander struggled for kind.
Tsunoda has endured his personal challenges however has progressed to Q3 on three events behind the wheel of the RB21, in addition to selecting up six championship factors.
Whereas the hole to Verstappen continues to be fairly massive, Marko is inspired by what he has seen from Tsunoda as he despatched a declaration of confidence to the 24-year-old.
“Yuki is getting higher and higher,” Marko advised oe24. “He’s the primary team-mate of Verstappen who can truly match the extent of Max.”
Nevertheless, Marko highlighted the largest difficulty Purple Bull at the moment has with the Japanese driver.
“Sadly, he nonetheless makes too many errors when the strain begins to mount,” Marko added.
Purple Bull has been unable to persistently problem standings chief McLaren throughout the opening six rounds of the marketing campaign.
Championship chief Oscar Piastri has gained 4 of the grands prix staged to date, drawing reward from Marko.
“I’m very impressed,” Marko stated. “Oscar all the time stays cool and consistently places strain on everybody to journey on the entrance. That is actually refreshing.
“However I would not underestimate Isack Hadjar both. He grabbed a brand new championship level in Miami by a couple of hundredths.”