Tsunoda reassured after his debut at Red Bull: "A little better than I thought"

Points like a release for Yuki tsunoda. At Sakhir last week, Yuki Tsunoda managed to secure his first units with his new team, Red Bull, finishing ninth in the Bahrain Grand Prix. A small feat since we had to go back to the 2024 Las Vegas Grand Prix to see the second Red Bull finish in the points! A new milestone reached, the day after his first passage in Q3 with the Austrian team, and a boost in confidence for the Japanese driver. After two Grands Prix with Red Bull, the 25-year-old driver has shown more than Liam Lawson, and now seems well integrated into his new team.

“I’m happy with how I’ve progressed in the last two races. [It was] a little better than I thought it would be, Judge Yuki Tsunoda ahead of the Saudi Arabian Grand PrixI'm still trying to understand the car, how it works on different tracks and in different types of conditions. These things will come with experience and time. But looking back at the last two races, I'm happy with where I'm at in terms of my confidence level. I'm in the mix. Obviously, it's not 100% perfect, but it's okay.

In search of regularity

Obviously, in Sakhir, Yuki Tsunoda was on familiar ground on a track that hosted winter testing last February, which helped him in his preparation and progress over the weekend. In Saudi Arabia, however, the scenario could be different on the Corniche circuit known for its demanding nature and its level of risk in the fast corners. Unlike in Bahrain, where he struggled on Friday before finding some pace on Saturday for qualifying, the Japanese driver will try to be “a little more consistent during Free Practice” to Jeddah to put him in the best possible position for the rest of the weekend.

“In the last two Grands Prix, I had a lot of ups and downs in Free Practice, recognizes the Japanese pilotI had a very difficult test in Bahrain. In some sessions there were obvious reasons for that, but I think if I'm able to fine-tune things a bit more early on I'll have more confidence. I'm also able to get more performance out of the car, probably better than in qualifying, so that's my goal."

Tsunoda backs down in the face of Verstappen's experience

Even though he was able to score his first points with Red Bull last weekend in Bahrain, Yuki Tsunoda is still a long way from Max Verstappen with the same car. In qualifying, the Japanese driver lost more than eight tenths to his Dutch teammate in Q3, a colossal gap, especially in an extremely tight and competitive grid. For the Sagamihara native, his lack of experience at Red Bull, relative to Max Verstappen, is the reason for this difference in performance, especially with a tricky RB21 to drive.

“Max probably knows a lot more about this car than I do, so even if the car isn't in the window it wants, he's still able to extract a slightly better performance than I can, says Yuki Tsunoda. It changes a lot of things, obviously in qualifying, especially when the session is very tight. It's not the easiest way to find the window we want and especially in the last two Grands Prix, at least since I arrived, we are constantly changing the downforce level and everything else. Because of that, it's not really ideal."

“Ultimately, as a driver, we want to have as consistent a balance as possible throughout the week. Obviously, we try to solve that problem, but it’s not the easiest way to do it, he concluded. I'm sure there's something planned, there are some developments planned for the next races, but we'll see. I hope things will improve [with] more confidence in the car."

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