Toro Rosso team principal Franz Tost says rookie Alexander Albon could become a “very successful Formula 1 driver” and has explained how he has impressed the squad.
Albon, who had not driven an F1 car until the shakedown of the STR13 in February, has out-qualified team-mate Daniil Kvyat in both races.
In the Bahrain Grand Prix he scored his first points with a ninth-place finish, despite being boxed out at the start.
He recovered by overtaking Alfa Romeo’s Kimi Raikkonen, Kvyat and the Haas of Kevin Magnussen on his way to a points return.
Tost told Autosport: “We’ve been quite positively impressed from the first test onwards. “He is doing a really good job, and I must say if he continues like this, he will become a very successful F1 driver.
“His strengths are the car control.
“Also his technical understanding, he comes up with quite good feedback, and it matches exactly with what Daniil, who is much more experienced, is saying.
“And he understands the tyres. I think he learned this already in F2, because also there you must take care of the tyres and treat them well.”
Although the double retirement for Renault helped Albon into the points in Bahrain, elevating him from 11th, Tost said that Albon had also suffered bad luck in qualifying.
“He had a very successful race. He was unlucky in qualifying because part of the front wing broke, otherwise, I’m convinced he could have been within the first 10,” said Tost.
“He had a reasonably good start, and afterwards a race without any major problems. “He managed the tyres well, and therefore he deserved the ninth position.
“He did a fantastic job with the primes, he was out many, many laps, and he finished the race on those tyres.
“I must say all those three rookie drivers deserve to be in F1. Alex is doing a fantastic job, as well as [Lando] Norris and [George] Russell.”