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Red Bull already have Yuki Tsunoda ready to replace Sergio Perez once the latter's contract expires, according to Alpha Tauri boss Franz Tost.
The Japanese driver has been very impressive this season, especially if compared to the experienced rookie Nyck de Vries. In the three races this season, Tsunoda beat De Vries comfortably.
The gap has not been too big in qualifying, but it's the races where the Japanese driver has shone. According to Tost, he might be the one lined up to replace Sergio Perez at Red Bull.
Speaking before the 2023 Australian GP, Tost praised Tsunoda for his performances in the first two races. He reckons that the Japanese driver would make the ideal replacement for Perez:
“Yuki drove two extremely strong races so far. I am very happy with him. It’s not his fault we aren’t competitive yet. As far as I know, Sergio Perez still has a contract for next year. All I can say is that Yuki is on the right track. He has improved in every aspect. But I think he should drive for AlphaTauri again in 2024. In 2025, I think he will finally be ready for Red Bull.”
Sergio Perez termed 'insecure' and 'impetuous' by Red Bull
Perez did not have the greatest of weekends in Australia, as he ruined his qualifying by going straight into the gravel. The Mexican was termed impetuous and insecure by Helmut Marko when describing his crash in qualifying. He said,
“The result was only possible with an optimal lap from Max and also that our engineers gradually improved the car during qualifying. We didn’t expect it to be so tight and the Mercedes to be so strong.
"Sergio, on the other hand, already had problems with the engine settings in FP3. That unsettled him, and unfortunately he slipped out. On this track, it is very difficult to overtake in the race. If we still get him into the points, then we have to be happy if he succeeds."
He added:
“Theoretically, Sergio’s problems were actually gone from practice. Maybe he didn’t have the optimal setup, but he was insecure and impetuous. And on the first fast lap, it was even more slippery, he was still on old tyres. All this has led to him slipping out.”
Sergio Perez is 15 points behind Max Verstappen in the championship and will hope to close the gap in the next race in Baku, Azerbaijan.
