Red Bull driver Yuki Tsunoda has been given the unenviable task of getting into a seat with far more spot light and pressure and scoring points with his performance in Qualifying already under scrutiny.
The fact that Tsunoda has not immediately scored big points for Red Bull has added more fuel to the suggestions that the car is extremely hard to drive.
Many drivers have tried and failed to be a successful teammate for Max Verstappen, with so much about the Red Bull car and team geared around the Dutchman who has won four Drivers’ Championships.
Tsunoda has made a respectable but uninspiring start to his unexpected time at Red Bull and as he enters his fourth race in the seat, the weight of expectation is only growing.
The delicate RB21
Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko has been largely positive about Tsunoda‘s performances with Red Bull so far having replaced Liam Lawson who now drives for Racing Bulls.
The Austrian spoke after the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix and suggested he now wants to see Tsunoda improve his performance and take the next step to be competitive in Q3 when he gets there in Qualifying.
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Speaking to the press, including Total-Motorsport.com, ahead of the 2025 Miami Grand Prix, Tsunoda admitted that the process he goes through in qualifying can be easily undone by the temperamental nature of the RB21.
“To be completely honest, in the last two races I haven’t been able to put it all together at all in Q3. Until Q2, I feel like I’ve been building up more towards Q3—starting with Q1, then Q2, and then Q3—giving it slightly more push each time. But if you push slightly more than what the car can handle, even just 2% over, the car reacts very differently compared to what I’m used to,” Tsunoda said.
“That’s something I can’t really predict yet, and I think that all comes with experience in the Red Bull. Hopefully, it’ll naturally come with time, but I definitely haven’t been able to put it all together in Q3 and extract the performance from the car.”
Tsunoda on the hunt for points
Tsunoda has only managed to score two points in his first three races for Red Bull which is less than he would have liked, although a Lap 1 tangle with Pierre Gasly in Saudi Arabia ended all hope of points very early on that occasion.
Whilst he is clearly being afforded more time to settle in than Lawson was, Tsunoda is aware that building his Qualifying performance will eventually lead to better opportunites for more notable points hauls in the near future.
“There are definitely things I have to work on. If I’m able to finish qualifying higher, it gives me a better chance to score points and allows for more flexibility with the team in terms of strategy. So yeah, it’s definitely an area I want to prioritise and improve on,” Tsunoda said.
