Tost defends Tsunoda's F1 test campaign

Franz Tost is unapologetic about Yuki Tsunoda's intensive pre-season of unofficial testing ahead of his 2021 Formula 1 debut.

In the past days, the 20-year-old Honda and Red Bull-backed Japanese rookie has been testing a 2019 Alpha Tauri car at Imola and Misano - and he will reportedly return to Imola next week.

"You cannot prepare a beginner well with a day and a half of testing," said team boss Tost, referring to the mere three days of official pre-season running per team next month in Bahrain.

"When Yuki received his super license, it became clear that we had to develop a normal test program for him," he is quoted by motorsport-magazin.com.

"It took a lot of effort," Tost continued. "The Honda guys arrived in Italy three weeks ago and had to spend two of them in quarantine, without which nothing would have happened."