Team boss Tsunoda: 'I see no reason why he can't match Lando'

Yuki Tsunoda could perform well during his Formula 1 debut season in 2021, Trevor Carlin suspects. The 57-year old Formula 2 team boss of the Carlin team was impressed last season by the young Japanese driver, who finished third in the F2 championship.

"He's been an absolute pleasure to work with," Carlin says to Autosport.com. Carlin has a lot of experience in training young drivers and Tsunoda has made a big impression on him over the last few months. "We've only had him for one season, and he did everything and more than what we expected."

As talented as Verstappen?

According to his team boss of 2019 the Japanese has a very promising future ahead of him. "As long as he's not overwhelmed by the F1 environment, I see no reason why he can't match what Lando [Norris] is doing, and you never know, he could have a little bit of Max [Verstappen] in him."

According to Carlin, Tsunoda is quick to master new cars. "If he picks up F1 as fast as he picked up F2 then I think he'll be giving Pierre a good run for his money once they get back to Europe," he expects.

Norris vs. Tsunoda

Norris was the last man from Carlin's team to make the transition to the king's class of motor racing in 2018. How far is Tsunoda now if you compare him to the Norris of that time? Is he just as ready for it? "Absolutely - I've got no shadow of a doubt. He is lacking a bit of experience compared to Lando, but his overall pace and understanding of driving a racing car is there. He's ready to go, for sure. I'm very hopeful. I would expect him to have some incidents in the first few rounds, but once that's over and done with I think you'll find he could shock a few people," the Brit concludes.