1997 F1 world champion Jacques Villeneuve has branded Yuki Tsunoda “the worst” of Max Verstappen’s F1 teammates thus far.
Tsunoda has struggled since being promoted alongside Verstappen on the Japanese Grand Prix.
The 25-year-old has scored factors simply thrice since becoming a member of Pink Bull.
Tsunoda’s finest end within the RB21 was ninth in Bahrain.
Tsunoda’s F1 future past this season appears unsure, despite the fact that he has proven flashes of enchancment in current races.
Talking to Vision4sport, Villeneuve was important of Tsunoda.
“Tsunoda might be the worst of all of them up to now,” he stated. “Lots of people say it’s unfair, that the automotive is made for Max. However Max may be the one one who truly provides good suggestions to the crew. So sure, they develop the automotive, so it will get higher and higher for him.
“They’re not there making an attempt to make it troublesome for the quantity two driver. The factor is, there’s not many like Max. If you happen to look previously, there have been a couple of at his stage within the paddock. And then you definitely had a number of good drivers. After which a number of common as properly.
“Now there are a number of good drivers as a substitute of only some. You don’t actually have distinctive drivers anymore. So, Max actually stands out. So, it’s laborious to place somebody subsequent to him. As a result of if all of the drivers that struggle one another are barely good, they’ll all look nice amongst one another.
“That’s till you get somebody like Max and also you assume, ‘Okay, possibly they’re all not adequate!’ So, is it the truth that all of the drivers which have been paired with Max up to now have all been common drivers?”
Tsunoda merely “not adequate”
Yuki Tsunoda
Villeneuve believes it’s now time to place a recognized amount alongside Verstappen.
Tsunoda and several other of his predecessors, like Liam Lawson, haven’t been anyplace close to Verstappen’s stage.
Villeneuve desires to see Charles Leclerc or Fernando Alonso alongside Verstappen sooner or later.
“It will be good to see a Leclerc subsequent to Max to see how good he actually is. Or it’d be good to place Alonso now subsequent to Max, as a result of that’s a recognized amount,” he defined. “It’d be good to place Norris subsequent to Max, so we’d actually see if Norris is outstanding or is he simply superb?
“That might assist to quantify issues. We all know that Max is outstanding however then the drivers subsequent to him have simply not been adequate and there’s no level saying, ‘Oh poor them.’ No, they’re simply not adequate. That’s it. They’re barely good.
“And that’s what has occurred with Tsunoda. He’s had 4 or 5 years of expertise already. He’s had his finest andclearly, it’s not adequate. That’s it. So, he’s been given this opportunity and too unhealthy. And he was wanting that likelihood, he was screaming for it.
“He was put in and he didn’t reduce it. It’s that straightforward and you may’t really feel unhealthy for him. He has been given the possibility to be within the prime crew, and he didn’t reduce it. He was promoted to the large league and you may see the frustration. And it’s making him drive even worse as a result of he is aware of he’s not fast sufficient proper now.”
