Marko warns Tsunoda: 'Don't get too overconfident'

Although Yuki Tsunoda is the fastest of the three rookies at AlphaTauri this year, he is not infallible to the always critical Helmut Marko. In a new interview the Austrian warns his protégé not to get carried away or become overconfident.

It was the spin during qualifying at Imola that showed Marko that the Japanese driver may have been overconfident in his debut races for the team. Tsunoda lost control of the AlphaTauri coming out of Variante Alta, and slid the rear of his car into the tyre pile. A red flag followed, and it was later revealed that Tsunoda had managed to break his gearbox in two with the impact.

"Our young driver has become completely cocky," stated the team boss, looking back at the incident. "That was quite a stupid mistake."

Despite this, Marko remains confident in the qualities he has seen in the driver for some time. As justification, he cites the overtaking manoeuvre Tsunoda attempted on Hamilton when the circuit at Imola was still wet. "Wanting to overtake Hamilton on the wet track shows that he has no respect. But then he just has to bring in a bit of reason."