Pierre Gasly has opened up about his efforts to support Yuki Tsunoda as the Japanese Formula 1 driver faces a challenging start to his opportunity with the Red Bull Racing team. For Tsunoda, born in 2000 and long tipped for a potential seat in the senior Red Bull squad, the first part of the season has been far from smooth. In the first 12 races of the year, he has scored just seven points, three of which came from the Miami Sprint race — a chaotic event shaped by unpredictable weather conditions, which turned the race script on its head and allowed drivers with little to lose, such as Lewis Hamilton and Yuki Tsunoda, to pull off remarkable comeback drives.
The arrival of Laurent Mekies as team principal of the Visa Cash App RB team, previously known as AlphaTauri, could bring a boost for Tsunoda in the second half of the campaign. Mekies, who joined from Racing Bulls, quickly made a decisive move by allocating Tsunoda the reserve floor from Max Verstappen’s car in an effort to improve the performance of his RB21. This came after Tsunoda damaged his own upgrade package during a qualifying crash at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix in Imola.
Pierre Gasly, who raced alongside Yuki Tsunoda at AlphaTauri and knows first-hand the pressures of being part of the Red Bull driver programme, is offering personal guidance. The French driver endured his own turbulent stint with Red Bull Racing in the first half of the 2019 season before being moved back to the junior team. Speaking to racingnews365.com, the current Alpine driver explained: “There are certain things I cannot say publicly because we are professionals and some information must stay within the team. But I know exactly how difficult the position Tsunoda is in right now — I’ve been there myself. You try to do what is best for the team, and sometimes you’re given tools or opportunities to make things work, but despite that, you just can’t achieve the results you want. I’m trying to stay close to him as a friend and tell him things that could help. Ultimately, it’s down to him and the team to find a way to make the car competitive.”
Pierre Gasly’s words underline the mental strain that can come with driving for a team in the Red Bull system, where expectations are high and pressure is constant. For Yuki Tsunoda, having the insight and support of someone who has experienced similar challenges could prove invaluable as he looks to turn his season around.
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