Overlooked for a Red Bull promotion during the F1 2024 summer break, Yuki Tsunoda believes he could make life difficult for Max Verstappen.
Although Red Bull awarded Sergio Perez a new two-year contract earlier this year, the Mexican driver’s position within the team was up for debate prior to F1’s August shutdown. Recording a run of nine races off the podium and scoring just 46 points against Max Verstappen’s 167 since his last top-three result in China, Perez’s form opened the door for Red Bull to replace him at the summer break. According to reports, if he was 100 points behind Verstappen after the Belgian Grand Prix, a clause in his contract allowed for the team to do just that. However, Red Bull decided to retain the Mexican driver with Christian Horner announcing he would remain a Red Bull driver after the summer break.
That effectively ended any chance Tsunoda had of stepping up to the senior team, even though he wasn’t mentioned much in the chatter about who Red Bull could potentially call up. Tsunoda believes he could challenge Verstappen at Red Bull. ‘I think I can fight hard with him,’ the Japanese driver told RN365. ‘I won’t make life easy for him, for sure. Obviously, he’s very fast and he’s very consistent. So Drivers’ Championship-wise, I wouldn’t say I have massive confidence that I can straight away beat him in the Drivers’ Championship from the first year.’
While Tsunoda believes he could hold his own, he also reckons he’d learn a lot racing alongside Verstappen in the RB20. He added, ‘I have confidence that I can fight hard against him, and [there is] a lot of things I can learn, especially consistency with any conditions like half-wet, dry, dry-wet, wet conditions.’
Tsunoda emphasized the importance of adaptability and learning from Verstappen’s consistency. ‘Multiple condition changes, he’s always somehow adapted really, really well. That’s why he was very consistent last year, being able to 19 races and last year, there were a lot of multiple weather changes [during races] and those moments won’t be as much car-performance dominated. If you’re a really bad driver and driving a good car, you’re still bad driver and will easily lose positions, so that’s why he’s [Verstappen] able to win consistently. So, those things, for sure, I can learn a lot.’
Tsunoda has re-signed with VCARB for F1 2025, which opens the door should Red Bull opt not to continue with Perez. According to Dutch pundit Tom Coronel, however, that ship has sailed. He told Formule 1 Magazine, ‘Verbally I don’t think [Tsunoda] is ready for the top, he comes across as a bit childish at times. If he had presented himself in a slightly different way, he would have been in a Red Bull long ago. That’s where I have my doubts about Yuki, but on the other hand I think it’s great that he blurts everything out.’
While the possibility of Yuki Tsunoda joining Red Bull remains uncertain, his ambition and belief in his abilities are clear. Whether he gets his chance or not, the young driver is determined to fight hard and make his mark in F1.
