Yuki Tsunoda impressed Red Bull when he tested the team last week, according to their motorsport consultant Helmut Marko.
Red Bull is considering whether to replace Sergio Perez in the team’s line-up for next year. Tsunoda, who has just completed his fourth season at their second team RB, and his team mate Liam Lawson are the favourites to win promotion.“As for next year’s driver line-up, we’ll announce updates in the coming days,” Marko told Red Bull-owned publication Speed Week. “There’s been plenty of speculation, including some absurd figures about potential buyout fees, which are complete nonsense.”
Tsunoda has spent longer at Red Bull’s second Formula 1 team than any other driver without being promoted to their main squad. Last week’s test was the first time he has driven a Red Bull in anything besides a demonstration run.
“During post-season testing, Yuki Tsunoda had the opportunity to drive the RB20, and the team was very pleased with his technical feedback,” said Marko. “In this regard, he is much better than he is often given credit for.”
Whoever Red Bull select as Max Verstappen’s team mate, Marko said the team will continue to prioritise his requirements when developing their car.
“I believe our team is capable of providing Max with a car that will allow him to fight for the championship again,” he said. “And we know what needs to be done. The car must have a wider operating window to ensure it remains balanced despite minor temperature fluctuations or technical adjustments.
“That’s exactly what our engineers are working on. Forty points of downforce are beneficial, but it’s those extra four-tenths on the stopwatch that concern both me and the driver. The car’s handling needs to be predictable, giving the driver the confidence required to push the limits.
“Since we have Max, the fastest and best driver on the grid, it’s only logical to tailor the car’s development to suit his driving preferences. I’m confident that as long as we provide him with a competitive car, he’ll remain with Red Bull Racing.”
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Jere (@jerejj)
16th December 2024, 16:53
Which is good news itself, but being enough for Red Bull to give him a chance is still another matter.
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
16th December 2024, 17:09
Lawson’s case also is weak as hell anyway, so in this case, whatever good news Red Bull receives, is important to the matter.
HAL
17th December 2024, 5:12
Lawson had to jump unexpectedly in the car, past mid season and had just a few GP to prove himself… Twice. You may not have been impressed in front of your TV, I think he did pretty well.
But his case is certainly not weak as hell…
I would prefer to see Tsunonda get a chance, and Lawson / Hadjar get a full year of preparation in the junior team. But I bet Lawson has indeed more potential than Tsunoda
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
17th December 2024, 16:35
We don’t know, do we? Lawson might be great, but my point is Lawson in a Red Bull with little argument behind it makes no sense. This is a team that should be fighting for championships. To bring someone with so little experience will only backfire, like it did with Kvyat, Gasly and Albon, and even then, those 3 had a full season on his shoulders before getting the call…
JoshJ81
16th December 2024, 16:53
So…the criteria at Red Bull Racing: Don’t beat Max, don’t give bad technical advice on Max’s car and don’t be the reason we lose the constructors. Let’s go Maximum Red Bulls!
“I wish I could just race karts again…no politics, pure racing”…paraphrasing Mr Senna.
Dex
19th December 2024, 8:53
Wasn’t the same Senna a very difficult teammate to work with himself?
An Sionnach
16th December 2024, 17:11
I’m very doubtful that they can overcome the issues with this car in little over two months with no real testing before Bahrain. A driver like Max needs to compete for championships or at least believe in the project. Since the rules will change in 2026 they may have time to keep him there until the end of that season. After that, Max may have to move.
I may be too pessimistic, but it might be his turn to have some years in the wilderness. Out of the top teams I can only see a space for Max in Mercedes or Aston. It would be good if some of the other teams are competitive from 2026 or beyond.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
17th December 2024, 1:07
Verstappen is like schumacher in the 90s or 2000s, teams will break contracts to get him, he’s by far the best driver atm.
Adam (@rocketpanda)
16th December 2024, 17:20
I’m sure it’s been said before but I really don’t see the argument for Lawson being a better pick than Tsunoda. DeVries was meant to be the ‘team leader’ and was nowhere against him. Ricciardo then brought in to evaluate arguably for a Red Bull seat and was also unable to consistently beat him. Lawson is yet to compete an entire F1 season in one go, and in the few races he’s been in has also been beaten by him, and the margins aren’t close.
They guy apparently has excellent feedback, has comfortably defeated every yardstick Red Bull have given him and clearly has decent speed. I’m not sure what they have to lose by giving him a shot and what more Tsunoda needs to do to prove he can do it.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
17th December 2024, 1:12
Agree, I said it before, tsunoda is beating every team mate since gasly, who by more and who by less.
Now, gasly wasn’t good enough at red bull, but unless they want to fish outside their pool of drivers I don’t see who else they can try, they had the sainz opportunity and passed on that, and keeping perez is certainly not an exciting prospect.
cdfemke (@cdfemke)
17th December 2024, 7:44
I can’t wait to see hotheads max and yuki going at it. It’ll be webber and vettel all over again
While yuki might be the better pick in speed and probably racecraft, Lawson might be the pick for mental stability thats required to survive as a verstappen team mate
Edvaldo
16th December 2024, 17:25
They’re very happy and they expect Yuki to use this knowledge to help the other team (don’t even know what is it called anymore) improve as they’re obviously not giving him the seat for just one season.
Olivier
16th December 2024, 17:35
Drivers like Lawson and Yuki seem to be in the same league as Albon and Gasly. I’m curious why they’re both so eager to be paired with Max Verstappen. As Marko recently mentioned, the car is tailored to him. It’s not just about providing car feedback but also about handling the immense pressure of competing on the front row of the grid—and being compared to arguably the best driver of this F1 era.
It’s unfortunate that this generation of cars doesn’t suit Ricciardo’s driving style—I really enjoy the camaraderie between him and Verstappen.
PeteB (@peteb)
16th December 2024, 17:47
For Yuki and Lawson, moving to Red Bull this year probably offers their one and only chance to win F1 races. Where would either go if Red Bull dropped them? Certainly not McLaren, Ferrari or Merc.
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
16th December 2024, 20:47
Why wouldn’t they be eager to sit in the second Red Bull? If you’re within the Red Bull Racing structure, doing well enough to earn a ride in the main team is the only objective, like Vettel, Riccardo, Max, Kvyat, Gasly and Albon before them. It’s also the (supposed) main purpose of RB/AlphaTauri/ToroRosso…
Gary
16th December 2024, 18:25
The comment from Marko is strange to me, it’s like he’s putting the internal disagreements with Horner out into the public since Horner was widely reported not rating Tsunoda’s feedbacl
anon
16th December 2024, 21:54
Gary, the thing is, Marko has heaped plenty of criticism onto Tsunoda in the past as well, including complaining about his technical knowledge. Back in 2022, Marko was criticising Tsunoda for offering rather poor technical feedback, complaining that his engineers “couldn’t do anything” with his feedback and that he needed to focus on analysing what the car was doing and then reporting that back to the engineers in a factual manner.
Similarly, back in March this year, Marko was not impressed with Tsunoda’s performance, saying that “So far Ricciardo is a bit behind. But let’s put it this way: Tsunoda’s qualifying speed is OK. But in the race, both are too slow.”.
Tristan (@skipgamer)
16th December 2024, 18:28
Love to see it! Hope Tsunoda gets it. Fingers crossed
Coventry Climax
16th December 2024, 19:30
Since both Verstappen and Perez already had a contract for coming season, the only way an update is possible, is when something is changed in those plans. I doubt it is Verstappen who changes his plans, so must be Red Bull regarding Perez, likely brought as Perez himself changing the/his plans.
Anon A. Mouse
16th December 2024, 20:17
Strange, F1 Fans™ swore up and down that Red Bull simply built the fastest car possible and didn’t tailor the car to one driver over the other.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
17th December 2024, 1:17
I suppose it makes sense anyway to build it around your fastest driver, you would score a lot less points if you built it around perez, in both championships.
EffWunFan (@cairnsfella)
17th December 2024, 1:48
@esploratore1
I am not sure Anon A. Mouse disagrees. Rather he is suggesting that many did not believe this was the case.
Not that I can prove it, but I am unsure this is true. If it were possible to build a car that enabled Perez to score more points, you would still have Max and his belief he could win the championsip in the third fastest car scoring highly in the other seat.
I am of course not suggesting this is the way to go, as Red Bull rightly want to maximise Max’s chances, but merely a couter to your point.
S
17th December 2024, 11:17
Yeah. The silence regarding this particular set of quotes is deafening.
It doesn’t matter to many that Marko is saying it now, Horner has said it before, and all of the No.2 drivers have also said it. It isn’t just sour grapes when the team bosses are backing it up themselves.
This direction the team is taking is invariably costing the No.2 in both confidence and overall performance. For those insisting that Perez is the problem at the team, the answer has been given to you yet again by the team itself.
DaveW (@dmw)
17th December 2024, 15:57
I think Gasly more or less said the same out loud. It’s Max’s car.
Yes (@come-on-kubica)
16th December 2024, 21:26
I hope it’s not Tsunoda – perez 2.0.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
17th December 2024, 1:16
Perez really fell into the abyss the last few years, so a perez 2.0 (assuming tsunoda is like that) is still gonna be an improvement for a couple of years, till he reaches perez’s 2023 and 2024 level.
anon
17th December 2024, 8:50
In fact fact Lawson shares more similarities with Perez than Yuki does.
Perez was brought in over Albon as a safe pair of hands. Known not to be the greatest qualifier but scrappy good on tires and able to get a result. Moreover, an older head than Albon that could take the pressure.
The same arguments are being made again. Lawson so far has been slower in qualifying but is more mentally stable and better in the race (some say) than Yuki. To me Perez’ problems all stem from just being too slow in qualifying. Lawson has the same issue and is more of a Perez 2.0. I reckon Tsunoda would be an Albon 2.0 but on balance I’d take the faster qualifier.
Thedtsgeneration
17th December 2024, 14:41
Planet Red Bull is a funny old world.
They want a driver that is Perez 2021-23. Just quick enough, when they have the best car, to interfere with Max’s rivals but not to challenge Max himself.
They want someone a bit quicker than Perez 2024 but not as quick as a Sainz because that would be too much an internal of a threat to Max and his carefully constructed image.
Yuki might fit the bill, not overtly top tier but decent journeyman level.
John Cousins (@drone)
17th December 2024, 10:28
So Visa Cash App RB are getting another name change… Here’s a thought, Red Bull and RB swap names so Perez’ is still “technically” racing for Red Bull and his contract still stands. Should save the squad a few million in buyout fees. Pure genius.😆
Davethechicken
17th December 2024, 11:50
https://www.planetf1.com/news/max-verstappen-red-bull-sergio-perez-exit-eddie-jordan-drama
Planet F1 referring to an interview with Eddie Jordan who is quoted as saying
“I know that Max put pressure on Christian. He did not want Carlos Sainz in the car. He wanted Checo in the car, because he knew he could beat him.”
Juan Munoz
17th December 2024, 15:47
Marko does not decide is a toxic element of the team he not even knows that Mexico is in North America dumb as a rock!
“All South Americans are lazy” for this comment he shall be fired insulting all of us and he forgets who Senna was as South American”
DaveW (@dmw)
17th December 2024, 15:51
Im confused because Pérez just signed a contract. So what is to BE decided? Pérez needs a better lawyer. Or he’s got a good one and is about to get private island money from RBR.