Yuki Tsunoda says his confidence changed massively through the Japanese Grand Prix weekend but he will need to reset ahead of this weekend’s Bahrain Grand Prix. Red Bull swapped Liam Lawson and Tsunoda ahead of the race at Suzuka, demoting Lawson to …
Yuki Tsunoda says his confidence changed massively through the Japanese Grand Prix weekend but he will need to reset ahead of this weekend’s Bahrain Grand Prix.
Red Bull swapped Liam Lawson and Tsunoda ahead of the race at Suzuka, demoting Lawson to Racing Bulls after just two events. While the move looked to be paying off as Tsunoda enjoyed a strong set of practice sessions and Q1 outing, he failed to escape Q2 and was stuck in traffic that prevented him from scoring points, something he admits was a big disappointment at his home race despite the experience he gained.
“It’s tough because I wanted to at least finish in the points,” Tsunoda said. “I am happy with the race in terms of what I have learnt but not in terms of result, so it’s mixed feelings. I was feeling a lot of support from the crowd, every lap it felt more and I wanted to give something more back to them.
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“At least I know I did the maximum I could in the race and these 53 laps gave me so much to learn about the car. I now know what kind of things I need to work on. I was stuck behind cars all day in traffic so it’s hard to know the full race pace of this car but, every lap of the 53, I was building up my confidence in the car.
“That confidence level is now completely different from the beginning of the weekend to now, I feel positive about that, but I am still disappointed because it is a home grand prix and it’s only once a year.
“I need to reset before Bahrain and I am sure compared to what I was feeling, in terms of car and in terms of confidence it will naturally be better there. I will understand more about the car, and I am excited for the next one, I just need to do better in qualifying.”
Team principal Christian Horner agrees with Tsunoda that he is capable of better results based on the performance he showed at times during the Suzuka weekend, and says he’s impressed with how the 24-year-old has settled into the team.
“He’s given very good feedback,” Horner said. “His P1 was very strong, P3 was fine, Q1 he was only a tenth away from Max… Q2 he made a mistake – he was 15ks quicker than he’s ever been into Turn 1, had a moment and then you’re chasing the lap the rest of the way.
“So qualifying 14th dictated his race. He made an overtake and had an undercut on Pierre Gasly. And then spent the rest of the afternoon looking at Fernando Alonso’s rear wing.
“But in a race where there was… I can’t remember seeing any overtakes, at all … I think that had he qualified higher he would have finished naturally higher. I think he’s given good feedback. And I think that now he’s finding his feet in the team, we’ll see over the next few races that performance will step forward.”
Yuki Tsunoda says the Red Bull feels “a bit more tricky” to drive in reality compared to the simulator, despite making an encouraging start in FP1 at the Japanese Grand Prix. There was plenty of focus on Tsunoda’s first outing in the RB21 during the …
Yuki Tsunoda says the Red Bull feels “a bit more tricky” to drive in reality compared to the simulator, despite making an encouraging start in FP1 at the Japanese Grand Prix.
There was plenty of focus on Tsunoda’s first outing in the RB21 during the first practice session of the weekend at Suzuka, and he duly posted a best lap time just over 0.1s off teammate Max Verstappen at a similar time in FP1. The afternoon running was hit by four red flags that meant many teams missed out on representative data, but Tsunoda admits he got enough running to feel the challenges of his new car.
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“Yeah, FP1 was better than expected, a good start for myself,” Tsunoda said. “And FP2 I didn’t set a lap time. I think there is a lot of work to do, maybe slightly struggled or something that we have to look through the data in FP2 more, but so far overall it’s OK. I just have to build up confidence more.
“It’s a bit different to the simulator from what I felt, to be honest. A little bit more than I expected in terms of the car feeling. I knew anyway it was always going to be a bit different in the real car and it was a little bit more exaggerated in the real car. It’s feeling a bit more tricky.”
While Tsunoda is a new addition to the Red Bull lineup, Verstappen has been calling for car improvements for some time, and says the lack of confidence he has in the car is hurting his pace.
“It was quite chaotic out there for everyone with the red flags,” Verstappen said. “So we, like everyone else, couldn’t complete all the things that we wanted to do. But today has been quite difficult for me, just trying a lot of different things with the car. But it seems like a lot of things are not really clicking at the moment.
“It’s quite difficult just to put the lap down. You need a lot of confidence and commitment around here. And at the moment, I don’t feel like I can use that. So we still have a bit of work to do.”
Verstappen also complained of a strange sensation with his whole car flexing during FP1, but says that is an ongoing issue that appears more prominent at Suzuka and will take time to understand. Of more immediate concern for the defending champion is getting a read on how the Red Bull’s race pace is looking on Saturday.
“Not so much [graining] for us. But I was on the soft, so that tire requires a lot of management anyway. You can’t really push that tire. And then I only did like three laps at the end.
“So not really a good read. I think tomorrow, potentially in FP3, you will see a lot of teams trying to do a bit more of a longish run with the time that you have. But yeah, it’s not been an easy day.”
“Well, I liked the comment, the text, so I guess that speaks for itself, right? It was not a mistake.” Max Verstappen is not happy. At the center of a crowd huddled around a small table in the temporary hospitality building that is home for Red Bull …
“Well, I liked the comment, the text, so I guess that speaks for itself, right? It was not a mistake.”
Max Verstappen is not happy.
At the center of a crowd huddled around a small table in the temporary hospitality building that is home for Red Bull for this weekend’s Japanese Grand Prix, the Dutchman would not discuss exactly what he told the team about his thoughts on Liam Lawson’s demotion after just two races, but he still found a way to get the message across.
Former Formula 1 driver Giedo van der Garde had published an Instagram post in support of Lawson a week ago, in which he said of the situation: “in my opinion this comes closer to bullying or a panic move than actual high athlete achievements”. And Verstappen had liked it. On Thursday he confirmed that it was he who had done so, as he agreed with the sentiment.
Christian Horner wasn’t at Suzuka while the drivers were facing questions about the situation, instead still traveling down from Tokyo for a Friday arrival when he will become central to the story. But in his absence, it was Racing Bulls team principal Laurent Mekies – encouraging a supportive and welcoming atmosphere from his personnel towards Lawson on his return – and the drivers themselves who were the focal point.
Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda had their say, but other drivers were naturally asked about the situation, too, and while Tsunoda is a seriously popular figure in the paddock, not all of the viewpoints were positive.
“I’m not surprised to see them move that early, no,” Lewis Hamilton said. “But I don’t really have any views on other teams.
“Both great drivers, I think we’ve got a lot of really great drivers here and particularly young talented drivers, I think there’s naturally a lot of pressure on youngsters coming in and I think there’s no way you can get fully on top of a car which is known to be not the easiest car to necessarily drive – just to give him two races was pretty harsh.”
From the most successful Formula 1 driver of all time to the most recent race-winner, there were multiple drivers who voiced their opinion that two races is not enough to be judging someone on.
“I think what we’ve seen from Liam in the first two races is not a reflection of his talent,” Oscar Piastri said. “I’ve raced Liam for a number of years and I think he’s an incredibly competitive driver. I don’t think the results he showed in the first two rounds are indicative of what he’s capable of, and I’ll leave it at that.”
The word “brutal” has often been used over the past week, from both a media or fan perspective, but also senior figures within the F1 paddock. Tsunoda acknowledges that can often be the case with Red Bull, but offers an interesting take on it perhaps being one of the reasons for the team’s past successes.
Tsunoda says the decision to overlook him in favor of Lawson in the first place was “brutal”. Clive Mason/Getty Images
“For me at least, it was brutal enough last year at the end of the season when they chose Liam over me,” Tsunoda said. “It is what it is. I’m sure Liam also understands how quickly things can change within our structure. That’s one of the reasons we succeed, but also one of the reasons why we tend to get a little more attention with those situations.
“I have confidence. I’m not saying I have the confidence that I can perform straight away like Max, but I have confidence that I can do something different – hopefully – compared to other drivers that will be in the car. If I didn’t have confidence, I wouldn’t be wearing this [Red Bull t-shirt], I would have stayed in Racing Bulls.
“Racing Bulls already have such a good car, and I understand how they extract performance in every race so far but because I wanted to have a new challenge, and I have good confidence to challenge myself, so that’s why I’m wearing this and hitting the track with a different livery.”
Mekies did his best to put the positive spin on it, and there are positives, but they also create a lot of internal conflict for many. Given Lawson got so little time to prove himself, the fact he still has a seat – with something to prove and the chance to prove it – is what his new team principal is encouraging. And it’s hard to argue that it wouldn’t be great to see.
But at the same time, you’ll be hard pushed to find anyone wanting to see Tsunoda struggle, too, even though that might be the most likely outcome in a car that has proven extremely tricky to drive for both Lawson and the far more experienced and successful Sergio Perez. And if Tsunoda is going to find the going tough, then it would be particularly cruel to see that at his home race.
The entire circuit is going to be rooting for him this weekend, and I imagine plenty watching from around the world too. But then if we get our wish and Tsunoda also performs well, then you end up with both drivers delivering, and Red Bull being vindicated in making the switch. And with my apologies to the team, the last part doesn’t quite feel like the most positive aspect.
Especially if that could be seen as papering over cracks that Verstappen himself says cannot and should not be ignored.
“Maybe we can now see how difficult it is to drive that car,” Verstappen said. “I don’t think you need to have a look at anyone, to be honest. What has been done has been done. I think it’s more important that we take a good look at ourselves and just keep on working and keep on improving the car.
“I don’t care what anyone else thinks. Or ‘poor Checo’, or ‘poor this’, or ‘poor that’. At the end of the day, we got ourselves into this situation, so we just need to work on it.”
The defending champion is not satisfied. How Tsunoda and Lawson fare this weekend is going to be fascinating to watch, but so too are Verstappen’s fortunes.
Yuki Tsunoda says Red Bull team principal Christian Horner told him to be prepared in case of a promotion before his seat swap with Liam Lawson was confirmed, Red Bull opted to replace Lawson after just two races of the 2025 season; the New …
Yuki Tsunoda says Red Bull team principal Christian Horner told him to be prepared in case of a promotion before his seat swap with Liam Lawson was confirmed,
Red Bull opted to replace Lawson after just two races of the 2025 season; the New Zealander failing to get out of Q1 in either event and not troubling the points. Tsunoda got the nod to make the step up last week, and said Horner had told him of the possibility prior to finalizing the decision.
“I can’t say specific details, to be honest,” Tsunoda said. “The first call I got was from Christian Horner after China, saying maybe be prepared, things might change a little bit. That was around Monday or Tuesday.
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“I was in the UK for preparation for Suzuka – that was already planned. I did a simulator session with Red Bull Racing, at that point it was just in case. Within two or three days in the UK, he confirmed it in person. So that was kind of the timeline. I can’t say when specifically but that was the timeline.”
Tsunoda said Horner wanted him to keep the possibility he would be promoted to himself, but he has since received messages from former Red Bull drivers after the news was made official.
“He wanted me to be very confidential, so literally I didn’t call anyone … I really didn’t say anything, not even to my parents,” he said. “Actually, I told them maybe the day before the news came out.
“I got a message from Pierre [Gasly], that he wanted to call me about the experience he had in Red Bull, about the things he should have done in Red Bull, and he wanted to share a couple of ideas he thought could work for the coming races in Red Bull. That was very nice of him, and very useful tips.
“I also got support from Checo [Perez] as well. All Red Bull family drivers gave me supportive messages. Those two have been very supportive to me, and I really appreciate it. They’re drivers I respect a lot, so I’m very happy.”
On Thursday Tsunoda revealed he had yet to speak to Helmut Marko about his move, later finding he had missed a call from the Red Bull advisor. Horner, meanwhile, has given the Japanese driver clear instructions as to what is expected of him.
“Basically, be as close to Max as possible, which anyway gives good results for the team, also it allows the team to support other strategies in the race,” Tsunoda said. “They’ve clearly said the main priority is Max, which I completely understand, because he’s a four-time world champion and so far already in the last few races even in difficult situations he performed well.
“Also, to help the development as well with my feedback. They were very happy with my feedback in Abu Dhabi, so just continue that. But the main priority is to be close to Max – which won’t be easy, for sure.”
Given his first race for Red Bull is his home grand prix at Suzuka, Tsunoda said it’s a perfect scenario for him to get the chance to try and fight nearer the front during the last year of the Honda partnership.
“Really looking forward to it – it can’t be crazier than this situation,” he said. “First race in Red Bull Racing and on top of it, a home grand prix. I think it’s the best situation ever. I’m just excited. Simulator went well. I spent a few days in Tokyo, which was really busy, but at the same time I was able to spend it with friends as well. So, really good so far.”
Yuki Tsunoda is ready for the toughest job in motorsports. Or, at least, he believes he is. At 24, with four seasons in Formula 1 plus a strong start to 2025 under his belt, he’s better-prepared for this opportunity than the man he replaced, former …
Yuki Tsunoda is ready for the toughest job in motorsports. Or, at least, he believes he is. At 24, with four seasons in Formula 1 plus a strong start to 2025 under his belt, he’s better-prepared for this opportunity than the man he replaced, former teammate Liam Lawson, and backs himself to thrive despite the fact that partnering Max Verstappen at Red Bull Racing is regarded by most as career poison.
Tsunoda has nothing to lose. This was destined to be his last year in the Racing Bulls fold, with Red Bull team principal Christian Horner saying last December that after five years in what he called the “support team,” there comes a point where “you’ve either got to let them go at that point or look at something different.” Tsunoda has proved himself worthy of a seat on the F1 grid, but opportunities are limited for ’26 if Red Bull’s B-team does not retain him. The jump to Red Bull presents an opportunity to change the direction of his career, and perhaps even establish himself in a front-running team for the long term.
It’s a big ask, given that not only is he being pitched into a seat regarded by most as the toughest in F1 but also doing so with no prior experience of the car, two races into a season, and for his home grand prix. The devotion of the home crowd and the desire of circuit owner Honda for him to thrive means the pressure will be intense, and how Tsunoda deals with that could set him up for success or failure at Red Bull. He will get more than the ludicrous two weekends afforded to Lawson, but the die will likely be cast one way or the other at Suzuka. Red Bull will soon turn its attention to identifying a replacement for ’26 if Tsunoda doesn’t convince – and convince quickly.
This is a fascinating challenge considering sources within Red Bull have long made it clear that question marks over Tsunoda’s mentality, more than his driving ability, led to him repeatedly being passed over for promotion. This all started when Tsunoda first tested for what was then called AlphaTauri in the post-season Abu Dhabi test in 2020 and the team was astonished by how vocal and emotional his communications were over the radio. It is something Tsunoda has, by his own admission, had to work on.
However, the perception has become increasingly anachronistic as Tsunoda has improved what he calls his “emotional control” significantly. The last time there was a notable problem was in the Bahrain Grand Prix in 2024, when team orders frustrated him late on and he made a statement with an odd lunge and lockup past Daniel Ricciardo on the slowdown lap. Since then, Tsunoda has been in a better place, aside from using an ableist slur during Austrian Grand Prix qualifying, for which he offered “big apologies,” as well as paying a substantial fine. But unacceptable language aside, too often legitimate pushbacks to team instructions are interpreted as problematic when they shouldn’t be. The most recent example was in the Chinese Grand Prix, when he was right to demand he work the front end harder and didn’t accept the pit wall telling him not to. Shortly afterwards, his reasoning was understood and the team backed the decision. Therefore, the idea of a driver who is not working with his team is an outdated one.
Tsunoda was relatively undercooked when he first arrived in F1 with AlphaTauri in 2021 (above) but has become far more well-rounded in the years since. Lars Baron/Getty Images
F1 has been a steep learning curve for Tsunoda. When he arrived in 2021, finishing ninth on debut in Bahrain, he had a single season in each of European F3 and F2 under his belt and was still very much a work in progress. He confessed to underestimating how tough the step up to F1 would be, and his first season was a chastening experience with too many mistakes. But he gradually learned, to the point where he was able to become the team’s spearhead once Pierre Gasly left for Alpine at the end of 2022. He’s now a far more dependable driver, and any patchiness in his results is more down to his team’s inconsistency than his own shortcomings.
The first two weekends of this year have illustrated that. In Australia, he ran in the top six until the rain returned on lap 44. The team flip-flopped on strategy, leaving him out for too long while other teams called their cars in, turning a strong result into a pointless afternoon. A similar thing happened in the Chinese Grand Prix, where Racing Bulls stuck with a two-stop strategy as others adapted to one. Only his strong run to sixth in the Shanghai Sprint rewarded him with points in a season where he has been a standout performer. The question now is whether he can translate his superb form at Racing Bulls into Red Bull Racing driving a faster, but much trickier, car.
To make his promotion work, Tsunoda must at least partially replicate Verstappen’s skill for extracting the potential from a difficult car. The Red Bull RB21 has plenty of downforce and grip; the trouble is accessing its potential consistently due to its balance limitations. Success or failure in doing so makes the difference between it being a podium threat and being at risk of elimination in Q1. Verstappen’s extraordinary ability is to drive the car in a way that minimizes the limitations and makes the most of that potential.
In qualifying especially, Verstappen’s otherworldly ability to manipulate the car on the brakes and turn-in is what unlocks its performance. The RB21 is prone to both understeer and rear-end snaps, but Verstappen can load the front axle at turn-in to give it the front end grip it needs without the rear stepping out of line. Doing so requires remarkable sensitivity, precision, adaptability and the capacity to react near-instantaneously to the feedback from the car. It’s the F1 equivalent of walking the tightrope. By contrast, Lawson has fallen repeatedly and therefore driving to a much lower ceiling – hence his references to the difficulty of finding “the sweet spot” with this car.
This isn’t simply the problem of a car developed for Verstappen, who thrives with a strong front end and can control the resulting rear-end instability most find too responsive. While such dynamics have the potential for the highest performance ceiling, this requires astonishing talent to control. Yet with the RB21, Verstappen faces an even tougher challenge with a car he says “is still not where I want it to be.” His driving is a delicate form of bullying that is beyond most.
So can Tsunoda do what Verstappen does? It’s unlikely, given Verstappen is, at 27, already established as one of the all-time greats and few drivers in the history of grand prix racing have his ability. The more pertinent question is whether Tsunoda can approximate the Verstappen technique enough to do the job Red Bull needs. That’s usually framed by the team as being about three-tenths off and banking regular points – although as a racing driver with unshakable confidence, Tsunoda himself will doubtless back himself to do far more than that.
There is a reference point, which is the post-season Abu Dhabi test last year. Tsunoda logged 127 laps in the 2024 Red Bull, which was less an opportunity offered by Red Bull and more one facilitated by power unit supplier Honda, which has backed Tsunoda since his early days in single-seaters. There, Tsunoda claimed to feel comfortable in the car and able to push it to the limit.
Verstappen’s driving style doesn’t work for many other drivers, but Tsunoda will need to adopt elements of it to have a shot at reaching the RB21’s potential. Clive Mason/Getty Images
“I think so — I didn’t really struggle much to adapt,” said Tsunoda. “I didn’t have many dirty laps. On the long runs, I have been able to run consistently and straight away felt the limitations of the car, which if you don’t have confidence in the car, you can’t feel any limitations.”
Although Tsunoda showed what he could do, the die had already been cast and Red Bull’s decision was made – Lawson was going to replace Sergio Perez, subject to the payoff being finalized with the Mexican. The willingness to make the swap with Lawson so early in the season confirms that Tsunoda did a good job in Abu Dhabi.
Tsunoda is definitely better qualified for the challenge than he would have been a couple of years ago and is promoted to Red Bull Racing with the kind of experience two of his predecessors, Alex Albon and Pierre Gasly, had. Tsunoda is, by inclination, a late braker. When I asked him about that in November 2023, this is how he described his style:
“Stronger and fast,” said Tsunoda. “The initial part is stronger. I’ve never seen a driver where the initial part is stronger than me. The releasing part, the later part, he [teammate Ricciardo] is good at. I can learn something from that as a driver.”
This was a significant phase of Tsunoda’s development, one that broadened his window. While his original F1 teammate, Gasly, is also by inclination a late braker, one who thrives attacking the corner provided that the rear end is predictable enough to give him confidence, Ricciardo showed Tsunoda another way. That’s expanded Tsunoda’s toolkit as a driver and, critically, given him a deeper understanding of the value of manipulating the car’s balance using the brakes. To do what Verstappen does, braking late is not an option as it just means struggling to get the car turned. Then you are limited on traction when you try to feed the power in thanks to the extra lock required to get the car through the rest of the corner. Tsunoda at least has a grounding in how to try and achieve this.
The pressure is on, but this is potentially life-changing opportunity for Tsunoda, who can transform himself from handy midfielder to frontrunner. In terms of experience, the timing is right even if it would have been better to give him a winter and pre-season to prepare, but this is the opportunity he craves to prove he can do what Gasly, Albon, Perez and Lawson failed to do before him.
If Tsunoda delivers, and that doesn’t mean matching Verstappen but simply being a useful number two for Red Bull, then this could be a career-making opportunity. If not, it will be a career-breaking one, but at least he’ll have had the belated chance to show what he can do in the least hospitable seat in F1.
Red Bull is considering making an immediate change to its driver line-up following the struggles experienced by Liam Lawson in the opening two races of the season. Lawson replaced Sergio Perez over the winter after the Mexican scored just nine …
Red Bull is considering making an immediate change to its driver line-up following the struggles experienced by Liam Lawson in the opening two races of the season.
Lawson replaced Sergio Perez over the winter after the Mexican scored just nine points in the final eight races of 2024. That came against the backdrop of Max Verstappen wrapping up a fourth drivers’ championship and scoring 134 points across that same eight-race period, and it was the New Zealander that Red Bull turned to after being impressed with his approach at Racing Bulls over the final six rounds.
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Although the Red Bull has not been a race-winning car in the opening two races, Verstappen has still managed to pick up 36 points while Lawson crashed out in Australia and was classified 12th after disqualifications in China – the latter a weekend where he was classified last in both Sprint and grand prix qualifying.
Melbourne and Shanghai marked the first time Lawson has driven on either of the two circuits, but he admits he doesn’t believe he will be given time to try and get used to the 2025 Red Bull.
“To be honest, we were even more competitive in [Saturday’s] Sprint — we were able to overtake cars and move forward,” Lawson said. “It’s just we tried something with setup to learn something [on Sunday], it was quite a big step, and unfortunately, it just didn’t work.
“So, a lot to learn from this weekend. A lot for me, personally, to get on top of as well. It’s just been extremely tough.
“I’d love to say I just need more time driving the car, but obviously we don’t really have that. So, fortunately, we go to a track that I know, and it’s a track that I like, but I’ll be spending this week very heavily going into absolutely everything to try and obviously do a better job.”
Lawson finished the Chinese Grand Prix over a minute behind Verstappen, who finished fourth, representing a pace deficit of more than a second per lap over the 56-lap race. Although he has raced at Suzuka in both Formula 1 and Super Formula, RACER understands Red Bull will now discuss whether to address the situation before the next race in Japan. Should there be a change made, the most likely outcome is expected to be a promotion for Yuki Tsunoda, with Lawson returning to Racing Bulls.
While Lawson’s future is being considered, a driver swap is not a certainty. Red Bull faced a similar situation last summer when it appeared poised to drop Perez mid-season but surprised many by opting to stick with an unchanged line-up after the summer break.
Amid the growing reports about Red Bull’s current situation, team principal Christian Horner refused to commit to Lawson for the next round in Suzuka, when pushed on the topic following Sunday’s race in Shanghai.
“Look, I think everything is purely speculative at the moment,” Horner is quoted as saying by ESPN when asked if Lawson would still be driving for the team in Japan. “We’ve just finished this race. We’re going to take away the info and have a good look at it.
“I think Liam still has potential – we’re just not realizing that at the moment. I think the problem for him is, you know, he’s had a couple of really tough weekends. He’s got all the media on his back.
“The pressure just naturally grows in this business, and I feel very sorry for him that he’s … you can see it’s very tough on him at the moment.”
Horner also told Sky Sports that Red Bull was thinking of Verstappen’s chances in the drivers’ championship when considering the future of its second car.
“There’s performance that we need to find and we need both drivers up there if there’s to be any chance of fighting for the constructors’ championship. For the drivers’ championship as well, you need to have a second car in play, you can’t just do it one legged.
“Formula 1 is a pressure business, there’s always time pressure, and Liam knows that. Hopefully he’ll respond accordingly and we’ll see where we go.”
Yuki Tsunoda’s outing for Red Bull in the Abu Dhabi tire test this week is an opportunity for him to prove himself amid uncertainty over Sergio Perez’s future, according to team principal Christian Horner. Perez appears set to leave Red Bull as both …
Yuki Tsunoda’s outing for Red Bull in the Abu Dhabi tire test this week is an opportunity for him to prove himself amid uncertainty over Sergio Perez’s future, according to team principal Christian Horner.
Perez appears set to leave Red Bull as both sides look to reach an agreement over his contractual situation, following a disappointing season in which he finished a distant eighth in the drivers’ championship. With Red Bull reserve driver and Formula 2 racer Isack Hadjar taking part in the young driver test on Tuesday and Tsunoda set to carry out tire testing duties, Horner says both have a chance to impress as the latter makes his first appearance in a Red Bull.
“We have Hadjar doing the junior test for us, and Yuki doing the Pirelli tire test,” Horner told SiriusXM. “It’s a great opportunity for Yuki to work with the engineering team and get a run in RB20.
“As you well know, any time you sit in a Formula 1 car it’s an opportunity to prove yourself. It’s a good opportunity for Yuki, it’s a great opportunity for Isack, so let’s see.”
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Horner says both Tsunoda and RB teammate Liam Lawson are in the frame if Red Bull does replace Perez next season.
“I think Liam, in challenging circumstances, he’s done a very good job,” Horner said. “If you analyze what he’s done and in the time that he’s had and the race pace that he’s had, I think he’s done a good job.
“I think Yuki has done a good job. So in the event that anything were decided with Checo, [they] would be the candidates.”
While admitting there are discussions taking place relating to Perez’s future, Horner says his overall contribution to Red Bull since 2021 should not be overlooked.
“Look, it’s tough for Checo. He’s been a great team member and he’s had a really tough year. We’ll reflect on that after this weekend, but you’ve got to feel for him again, retiring from a race that he wanted to finish the season at least on a high. But you’ve got to look back on the years that he’s done with the team, the five victories, the second in the world championship last year — he’ll always be a big part of this team.
“We’ll reflect on what happened this year and how we move forward.”
RB driver Yuki Tsunoda says he “nearly got sent back home” by customs officials when trying to enter the United States for this weekend’s Las Vegas Grand Prix. Formula 1 is racing in the United States for the third time this season, following …
RB driver Yuki Tsunoda says he “nearly got sent back home” by customs officials when trying to enter the United States for this weekend’s Las Vegas Grand Prix.
Formula 1 is racing in the United States for the third time this season, following earlier events in Miami and Austin — the latter just a month ago. However, Tsunoda says he was questioned for a number of hours by border control, having faced no issues entering the country for previous races.
“Luckily they let me in after a lot of discussions — I nearly got sent back home,” Tsunoda said. “But yeah, we had a discussion and everything’s all good now.
“I had the visas and everything; it’s been the same as I guess the last three tracks, right? I was able to enter smoothly for the previous [races], so it felt a bit strange that I got stopped. Hopefully that will sort things and in the future it will go smoothly.”
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Tsunoda says his grasp of English made the situation challenging because he believed he wasn’t allowed his trainer alongside him when being questioned, and could not seek help from his RB team either.
“There was my physio I travel with; obviously when you have a question or when you go to customs you go individually. Suddenly I went to the room, he just put me in the room and we had a conversation like, ‘Can I bring the person that I travel with and maybe he can help a little bit to explain a bit more about myself and the situation in Formula 1?’ But they didn’t allow me to bring that friend or even call anyone.
“I wanted to call the team as well or Formula 1, maybe a person that can help me, but in that room you can’t do anything, so just [on your own].”
Yuki Tsunoda and Sergio Perez were both defended by Daniel Ricciardo after their crashes in qualifying at the Hungarian Grand Prix. Perez was first to go off with a heavy crash at Turn 8 during Q1 – ensuring he will start no higher than 16th on …
Yuki Tsunoda and Sergio Perez were both defended by Daniel Ricciardo after their crashes in qualifying at the Hungarian Grand Prix.
Perez was first to go off with a heavy crash at Turn 8 during Q1 — ensuring he will start no higher than 16th on Sunday — before Tsunoda (pictured above) ran wide at Turn 5 and was launched into the barrier in Q3. Ricciardo says his RB teammate’s crash was mainly down to the punishing track layout on the outside of that corner, with what he believes were small moments having significant outcomes.
“I have not seen Checo’s yet — I saw the aftermath, but I honestly don’t even know what corner he went off on,” Ricciardo said. “So I haven’t seen that one. I just saw Yuki’s now. So a few of us on Thursday — the few that do a track walk — saw that the edge drops a lot. And we thought if you drop off a wheel there, it’s going to just skateboard and do literally what it did.
“So there’s just no margin for error on that corner. It was a big one. I mean, I saw him get out, so I think he’s OK, but obviously it’s completely destroyed the car. So I don’t think that is the nicest kind of run-off that they’ve created for us.
“Look. we’re pushing, it’s Q3. I’m not making an excuse for Yuki but that corner you just have no margin. You drop a wheel there and it’s game over. So that was that. And then Checo’s, I know that was probably when it was still a little bit damper, and these conditions you’ve got to send it and put it all on the line and small mistakes obviously have big consequences.
“So there’s a lot of pressure on, not only us as Red Bull right now but everyone in that situation. So everyone has moments but when you cross the line sometimes you’re just like, ‘Thank you!’”
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The focus on both drivers was due to speculation surrounding Perez’s future, with Red Bull understood to be set to analyze the situation during the summer break. With Ricciardo himself looking uncertain to remain with RB, he says he had given the next two rounds added importance.
“I haven’t been told anything, but I’ve told myself if I can do it, go fast. You’ve got two races to give it hell. And that’s honestly not even with the idea of moving up, it’s even just trying to lock something in for next year.
“I intentionally came into the weekend telling myself that these two races could be two of the most important of not only my season but potentially my career. They haven’t specifically said anything to me but I’ve said enough to myself.”
For his part, Tsunoda thinks it was a combination of aspects that led to him going off track when on another occasion he could have continued with his lap.
“I felt, ‘Why didn’t it turn?’” Tsunoda said. “I didn’t feel like I was going to run wide there. Probably because I was on the limit in Q3, half of the tire went on the grass, but probably because it was wet it kind of exaggerated it and went wide.
“Until that corner, the lap felt great. I’m sorry because everyone in the team and myself deserve a higher position for all the work we’ve done. The car felt great, and the lap was solid, and I reckon it could’ve put us in a great position for tomorrow.”
Sergio Perez says he can’t allow speculation surrounding his future become a distraction for him ahead of the final two races before the summer break. Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has openly stated that Perez is under pressure, having …
Sergio Perez says he can’t allow speculation surrounding his future become a distraction for him ahead of the final two races before the summer break.
Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has openly stated that Perez is under pressure, having scored just 15 points across the past six race weekends and slipped to sixth in the drivers’ championship. The form has led to an understanding that the situation around Perez will be analyzed during the August shutdown if there is not an upturn in performances, but the 34-year-old says his focus needs to be on the upcoming rounds.
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“I know where I am, in terms of contract and that sort of thing,” Perez said. “That I cannot let be a distraction because I need to focus on the next two weekends, which are the priority and work together with the team to get out of this difficult period.
“It’s a good time to have a bit of a break and get back to form hopefully for Hungary and Belgium, two very important races.”
Perez stepped aside for Isack Hadjar in FP1 at Silverstone and then was eliminated in Q1 after spinning off track in changeable conditions. After a race where an early gamble for wet weather tires backfired, the Mexican says it’s the early practice work that will be crucial to any turnaround.
“I think, looking back at it, we had one of the best Fridays in a while,” he said. “So I think there is some light out of the tunnel. At the same time, it is a very disappointing race, but I am also aware how much we can consider this race. Other than that, just making sure we are in a ballpark with the balance, try to make preparations we need for Friday and then we will be a lot better.”
Where there is further uncertainty surrounding Perez is in the lack of a standout candidate to replace him should Red Bull make that choice, with Horner still relatively reserved about Yuki Tsunoda’s potential, despite him getting the better of Daniel Ricciardo so far this season.
“Yuki is a Red Bull Racing driver, he’s on a Red Bull Racing contract, and we re-signed him because he’s been performing well,” Horner said. “So we’re very aware of his performances.
“I think Yuki’s doing a good job. He scored another point [at Silverstone], he’s stringing weekends together, he’s doing a good job. I think he’s benefitted from having Daniel alongside him, I think he’ll openly admit he’s learned from Daniel in terms of having an experienced driver and how they interact with the team and the engineers. And Yuki’s not a rookie anymore, he’s got quite a lot of experience now under his belt and you can see he’s putting that to good use.
“You never know, maybe he’ll get a test one day … You can never rule anything out. Yuki, we have options for multiple years on him because we believe that he’s a talent.”
