Red Bull motorsport boss Helmut Marko was impressed by AlphaTauri's strong form in pre-season testing in Bahrain but highlighted the "sensational performance" of young gun Yuki Tsunoda.
AlphaTauri topped the mileage chart last weekend at Sakhir along with Alfa Romeo, the two teams racking up 422 laps over the course of the three-day test.
Marko took note of the good pace displayed by the Faenza-based squad's AT02 but the Austrian was stunned by Tsunoda's speed on the final day of testing which the rookie concluded just 0.093s behind Red Bull pace setter Max Verstappen.
It later came to light that the Japanese charger had excessively exploited his DRS during his final runs, but Marko was nevertheless impressed.
©AlphaTauri
"Our Yuki Tsunoda is 20 years old and has only been in this car for one-and-a-half days, but he has delivered a sensational performance," Marko said in an interview with RTL.
"Of course you can't do that without a car. But I guess AlphaTauri will be near the front midfield, which is very close. There is Renault, there is Ferrari, also Aston Martin.
"I think McLaren is a notch ahead. We expect there to be a tough battle there. Depending on the track, one or the other will be in front. But again, Tsunoda was sensational."
AlphaTauri team boss Franz Tost, who has seen many hopefuls come and go over the years under his guidance, is keeping his enthusiasm in check regarding Tsunoda but acknowledged the latter's "convincing" performance in Bahrain along with teammate Pierre Gasly's strong test.
"Yuki is still a newcomer," he told Sky Germany. "The DRS is usually automatic. He activated it too early during the tests, he won’t do that in the future.
"We also have to be careful – we don’t know exactly how much fuel the other teams were using but the fact is our car works quite well.
"Both drivers are in good shape, and especially Yuki was convincing."
©AlphaTauri
Tost admitted that winning again in 2021 is a tall order, barring any exceptional circumstances, but fight among the top five is in the realm of reality for AlphaTauri.
"I hope we are able to present a great result every now and then," said the veteran team boss.
"The fact is Mercedes and Red Bull are in front. If nothing happens to them and everything goes according to plan, it will be difficult to win a race.
"But placings in the top five should be possible now and again."
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