Tsunoda preps for F1 outing with AlphaTauri!

Red Bull junior Yuki Tsunoda was in Faenza this week for a seat fitting with AlphaTauri for whom the Japanese hopeful and Honda supported driver will test next month at Imola.

Tsunoda is currently third in the FIA Formula 2 Championship, having won twice with Carlin in the series in his rookie year.

Despite Honda's exit from F1 at the end of next year, Tsunoda's F1 prospects remain intact, with the 20-year-old expected to step up to the next level in 2021 with AlphaTauri.

The junior bull squad has indicated that Tsunoda's test - in a 2018-spec car - will take place at Imola on November 4, three days after F1's return to the Italian track for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.

Heralded by Red Bull as one of its brightest prospects, Tsunoda has also received high praise from F2 team boss Trevor Carlin who views the Japanese charger as "the real deal".

"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," Carlin told Reuters.

"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 for the title and that hasn't happened with a Japanese driver for a long, long time."

• Read also: Tsunoda still in the running for AlphaTauri seat despite Honda exit

Red Bull has yet to finalise its 2021 driver line-ups for both its teams.

Alex Albon remains the beneficiary of Red Bull Racing's unwavering support but another intra-team switch with Pierre Gasly is seen as inevitable if the British-Thai racer fails to improve his results by the end of the year.

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