The founder and team manager of Rodin Carlin, Trevor Carlin, has provided a breakdown of three drivers that rose through his ranks as a junior boss.
Rodin Carlin hosts drivers from all over the globe as they compete in an array of motorsport races.
Some of the most famous names in the game have driven for Carlin in their junior years including Yuki Tsunoda, Daniel Ricciardo, and Carlos Sainz.
Yuki Tsunoda
The Japanese talent has impressed once again this season, managing to exhort everything possible from an AlphaTauri car hampered with issues.
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Carlin has spoken of his time with Tsunoda fondly, suggesting the driver deserves more credit as it is a hard task adapting to life so far from home.
‘We absolutely adore Yuki, we had a year racing with him and it was the most fun time ever. He’s such a character, he’s so committed and he got everything out of the car. He made a few stupid mistakes in his rookie year in F2 which in hindsight actually cost him the championship to [Mick] Schumacher.
‘We thought he’d be with us on a two-year deal. The jump from one year in F2 to F1 is tough. He was trying to prove himself and he had a lot of incidents in year one and slightly less incidents in year two.
‘Could you imagine if we had to do this job in Tokyo tomorrow, not knowing the language? We’d really struggle. So flip that on its head, Yuki has come to a different culture, a different place, different language, different food, the whole shebang.
‘It is very difficult and that’s why many Japanese drivers don’t make it. They may be faster but they struggle to make the transition to Europe because it is a massive culture shock. So fair play to him he’s doing well. It’s a big challenge, he had a steep learning curve.”
Daniel Ricciardo
In spite of all the talk, Carlin is one man who believes a return to Formula 1 may not be the best thing for Daniel Ricciardo.
It’s been a painful decline for the Australian who went from Red Bull race winner to McLaren outcast, enduring a sticky period with Renault in between.
The eight-time race winner has been linked with a return to Red Bull, the team he prospered under between 2014-2018.
Carlin shared his thoughts, suggesting Ricciardo should be happy with what he has achieved and move on.
“We know Daniel ever so well, he’s a great friend of the Carlin team. He’s done an incredible job, he’s won lots of grand prix, he’s had a fantastic life based around motor racing but I think he has other things he’d like to do in life,” he said.
‘I don’t think he should come back as a race driver. Going to 24 races a season is a big commitment and there’s no point going just to do them. He’s a great ambassador for Red Bull right now.
“I haven’t spoken to him about it so if he reads this he’ll probably phone me up to have a shout at me! I’m a believer of people being happy in their lives and from the outside at least Daniel looks really happy at the moment.
“He looked very unhappy when he was running at the back in F1 and with the best will in the world driving an AlphaTauri is going to be a battle to be P9 or P10, so why would you put yourself through that?
“I don’t think he should do it, but if it gives him the chance to get back into Red Bull it’s a different conversation. I think he’d be ready for that and up for the challenge but AlphaTauri would be wrong for him in my personal opinion.”
Carlos Sainz
Trevor Carlin’s take on the situation involving Carlos Sainz is perhaps the most interesting.
Carlin claimed the Spaniard was “terribly underrated” and even backed him over teammate Charles Leclerc.
“No one can take away that Charles is an incredible qualifier of a Formula One car and that was the case in F2 back in the day. He could find grip that wasn’t there and take advantage of it. It gives you the headline result when you beat your teammate.
“But Carlos is steady, he’s always there. He’s had a couple incidents recently but I’d have to say the car isn’t the easiest thing to drive on the limit and Carlos has been on the wrong end of some of the issues on the car.
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“But at the end of the day, he still has more points in the championship than Charles. So maybe the headline qualifying pace hasn’t been there for Carlos but if anyone’s going to trouble the top three I think it’s more likely to be Carlos than Charles.
“He’s terribly underrated. In the wet with a good car underneath him he’s staggeringly fast. I think it was 2012, I had a GP2 test in Abu Dhabi and I needed someone on the car. I phoned Carlos Sainz Sr. and said would you mind if Carlos came down and did a couple of days testing.”
It was a refreshing take on the current climate surrounding these drivers. In the face of rumours and speculation, Carlin has given knowledgable insight and his words carry a unique rarity, vital for F1 fans.