Yuki Tsunoda currently sits third in the Formula Two Drivers’ Standings, 44 points adrift of Championship leader Mick Schumacher.
Trevor Carlin, team principal of the team Tsunoda races with, has said he believes Schumacher and the young Japanese talent will both be in Formula One next year.
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“Certainly Mick’s a shoo-in for Alfa. I’d say Yuki will be a shoo-in for AlphaTauri,” Carlin told the Reuters news agency.
“I think Yuki’s the fastest driver out there, he’s just had too many DNFs and incidents that have cost him the Championship really.”
Continuing, Carlin described Tsunoda as the “real deal” and stressed that it’s rare for a driver to be so high in the F2 standings in his rookie season.
“He’s the real deal. He learns so quickly. He’s the first one that really has come in and hit it hard.
“He’s a rookie fighting for the title and that hasn’t happened with a Japanese driver for a long, long time.”
Tsunoda has been linked with a move to AlphaTauri for a while, with him reportedly set to replace Daniil Kvyat.
Honda’s decision to withdraw from Formula One was seen by some as a potential setback for Tsunoda, as he had the support of the Japanese car-maker.
However, he is still in a good position to claim a seat at Scuderia AlphaTauri.
Next month, he will test the 2018 Toro Rosso at Imola and will be looking to do at least 300 kilometres so he will be allowed to take part in an FP1 session later this season.
“My main priority is to do those 300 kilometres,” he said earlier this week during his F1 seat fitting.
“I don’t want to crash or go off the track because the more mileage I do, the more I can understand the car, so I will take it easy,” Yuki Tsunoda added.
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