1997 F1 world champion Jacques Villeneuve has branded Yuki Tsunoda “the worst” of Max Verstappen’s F1 teammates so far.
Tsunoda has struggled since being promoted alongside Verstappen on the Japanese Grand Prix.
The 25-year-old has scored factors simply 3 times since becoming a member of Purple Bull.
Tsunoda’s finest end within the RB21 was ninth in Bahrain.
Tsunoda’s F1 future past this season appears unsure, regardless that he has proven flashes of enchancment in latest races.
Chatting with Vision4sport, Villeneuve was crucial of Tsunoda.
“Tsunoda might be the worst of all of them thus far,” he mentioned. “Lots of people say it’s unfair, that the automotive is made for Max. However Max is likely to be the one one who really provides good suggestions to the workforce. 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. For those who look up to now, there have been multiple at his degree within the paddock. And then you definitely had a number of good drivers. After which a number of common as properly.
“Now there are numerous good drivers as a substitute of only some. You don’t actually have distinctive drivers anymore. So, Max actually stands out. So, it’s onerous to place somebody subsequent to him. As a result of if all of the drivers that combat 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, perhaps they’re all not ok!’ So, is it the truth that all of the drivers which have been paired with Max thus far have all been common drivers?”
Tsunoda merely “not ok”
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 wherever close to Verstappen’s degree.
Villeneuve needs 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 excellent?
“That will assist to quantify issues. We all know that Max is outstanding however then the drivers subsequent to him have simply not been ok and there’s no level saying, ‘Oh poor them.’ No, they’re simply not ok. 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 ok. That’s it. So, he’s been given this opportunity and too dangerous. And he was wanting that likelihood, he was screaming for it.
“He was put in and he didn’t lower it. It’s that straightforward and you’ll’t really feel dangerous for him. He has been given the possibility to be within the prime workforce, and he didn’t lower it. He was promoted to the large league and you’ll 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.”
