Yuki Tsunoda reflects on challenges adapting to Red Bull car and his future prospects. Yuki Tsunoda discusses his challenges adapting to the Red Bull car.

Moving from Racing Point to Red Bull now seems like going from a domesticated horse to a wild bull.

Yuki Tsunoda is just the latest in a growing list of drivers who performed well behind the wheel of cars from the Faenza factory but, once promoted to Milton Keynes machinery, have disappointed expectations.

After a promising start, Yuki Tsunoda has faced several problems already encountered by those before him in the seat he now occupies. Transitioning from a well-balanced, easy-to-drive car to a diametrically opposite one, which is hard to fully exploit and offers few behavioral certainties, is making his task difficult.

Recently, Helmut Marko, Red Bull Racing consultant, confirmed Yuki Tsunoda’s seat at Red Bull until the end of 2025. This means the Japanese driver will have several weeks to show what he can do, provided he manages to adapt to a type of car that in recent years has only delivered satisfaction to Max Verstappen.

“Until I show what I’m capable of, I know what will happen, and I know myself—it’s not the performance I should have. I’m confident I can come back strong. You like to talk about the second Red Bull seat, but that’s how it is. I know there are things I’ve improved in past years and races, especially at the start of this season. But there’s still a lot to do.”

“I think my progress in understanding the car is coming. It’s getting better and better, but I need some time to put things into practice. There is progress and I’m not in too much of a hurry yet.”

Regarding the front wing change that happened two weeks ago in Barcelona, Yuki Tsunoda believes it did not significantly affect the RB21’s performance.

“I don’t think the front wing change made a big difference. Max has the same problems, I suppose. I didn’t feel a big difference in my car compared to how it behaved with the old wing.”