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Former Red Bull junior team boss Franz Tost has given a scathing verdict of Liam Lawson, saying the Kiwi would still be slower than Yuki Tsunoda if he had 100 years of practice. Tsunoda replaced Lawson at Red Bull after just two races of the current season. It came just months after Red Bull had deemed Lawson the better candidate, despite 11 races of experience to Tsuonda's four seasons at the junior team. Tost, the long-time boss of the outfit under its original guise Toro Rosso and into its first rebrand as AlphaTauri, worked with Tsunoda in the Japanese driver's first three F1 seasons.  Speaking as a pundit for ORF, he made it clear his feelings on Red Bull's original call. "I would have gone with Yuki Tsunoda from the start," Tost said. "I said that already - I made it clear last autumn. Why? Yuki is much faster than Lawson. You could give Lawson 100 years, and he still wouldn't be as fast as Yuki. And Yuki is more experienced, so what's the issue? It's a very simple decision. "It's definitely a confirmation that the right call was made. Yuki has incredible natural speed - I've been saying that for years. Now, he just needs to put it all together properly. He's still too emotional in the car at times, and maybe that was one of the reasons they didn't pick him over Lawson in the first place. "But in terms of raw pace, Yuki absolutely belongs among the best Formula 1 drivers. And if he can now translate that into consistency, perform in the races, and keep his emotions more or less in check, then it's going to be a very, very good season for and for Yuki Tsunoda." Tsunoda's debut has come in time for his home race, this weekend's Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka.
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