Few fully understand the challenge Yuki Tsunoda faces in going up against new Formula 1 team-mate Max Verstappen after his sudden promotion to Red Bull.
Fortunately, the 24-year-old's close relationship with former team-mate Pierre Gasly means he's had some crucial advice about how to do things from someone who has been there, done that and been spat out by Red Bull.
Gasly returned to Red Bull's second team after a chastening 12-race stint at Red Bull in 2019, lining up alongside Tsunoda there in 2021 and 2022.
A call after the news emerged of Tsunoda's sudden promotion between the two drivers has played an important role in the preparations for this weekend. Most significantly, Gasly discussed how he should have done things when he got his Red Bull chance.
“I got a message from Pierre that he wanted a call with me about the experience he had in Red Bull, the things that he should’ve done in Red Bull, and wanted to share a couple of ideas that could work for the coming races,” said Tsunoda when asked about his conversation with Gasly. “So that was very nice of him and it was useful tips.
“Also, I got from Checo [Perez, Red Bull driver from 2021-24], all the Red Bull family drivers, very supportive messages. Those two are being very supportive to me, so it’s very appreciated. And [Gasly is] one of the drivers I really respect most.”
The detail of what Gasly and Tsunoda discussed will stay between them. However, Gasly knows from bitter experience how quickly the confidence of the team can be lost.
In a column on the Player’s Tribune in 2021, he explained how it started to unravel from the moment he had the first of two crashes in pre-season testing - saying “from the moment I made my first mistake in a car, I felt like people there slowly began to turn on me”. He also referred to the fact “the media just ate me up” and talked of a lack of support from Red Bull.
Gasly never felt entirely comfortable at Red Bull, literally so given he frustrated some in the team with his multiple requests for new seats to be made. While a diligent driver who immersed himself in the data, he lost sight of how to achieve a good ‘global’ car set-up around the lap, as well as struggling with a late-braking driving style that often left the car under-rotated in slow corners and lacking traction owing to the amount of steering lock he still required in the exit phase as a result.
No wonder Gasly admitted “I can relate to” Liam Lawson’s situation, as well as having some lessons to teach Tsunoda to help him turn his speed and experience into Red Bull success.
“We spoke on the phone [about] the way that I was also given this opportunity and what didn’t quite work out, and things that could’ve been different," said Gasly.
“I think he’s got the experience, he’s got the speed. I’ve always backed him up, I’ve raced against him and with him for two years, I’ve seen his raw speed and what he was capable of doing. I’ve always said he was an extremely fast driver. He’s got the speed, he’s got a strong character.
“Does it mean he’s going to be successful in Red Bull Racing? No. Can he be successful in Red Bull Racing? Yes, but there’s slightly more complicated [things] to it.
“So I just wished him the best, shared my thoughts and experience from my time there. Time will tell, but he’s definitely a strong driver. In F1 right now, you’ve got many strong drivers on the grid - it’s not all down to your speed, there’s slightly more to it. But definitely, hopefully he can make the best out of this opportunity.”
The reference to the complexity of driving for Red Bull is an oblique nod to aspects of the team’s ways of working that Gasly will not speak about in depth. But it’s likely he’s stressed the need for Tsunoda to combine ensuring he fits in well and gets the team behind with ensuring he has his own clear idea of how to do things.
Gasly also praised Tsunoda’s evolution as a driver, from one with the speed but who was at times too erratic, to the current proven midfield performer.
“He always had the raw speed,” said Gasly. “He was a little bit too hectic behind the wheel at times, on the radio, and in that sense he’s matured enough in minimising the mistakes. It’s a fine line between pushing right at the limit and over-pushing slightly too much, which can be quite costly in F1 and I think he’s tuned that line. Looking at the past few seasons, he’s putting in a very strong performance. Speed-wise, he always had it, but [it’s about] just minimising those mistakes.”
Gasly also hinted that Tsunoda’s extra experience - 89 starts in F1 before moving to Red Bull compared to his own 26 - should allow him to handle the various challenges posed by driving for Red Bull better.
“Ultimately, more experience in F1 is never a bad thing,” said Gasly. “The more experienced you are, the better you are, the more understanding you have of the sport, of the impact of teamwork etc. Whether experience was the limitation, no, it wasn’t, there was more to it at the time [and I’m] not going to expand into details here. But with more experience in F1, you’re a more complete driver.”
Expectations in Japan
Although Tsunoda has been quoted as saying he’s targeting the podium in Japan, he stressed that he meant this more as a dream than a realistic aim. But despite Lawson’s struggles in Australia and China, where he failed to escape Q1 in any of the three qualifying sessions he participated in and failed to score a point, Tsunoda is targeting the top 10.
“That’ll be great, the first race, home grand prix, that’s obviously inside of my head,” said Tsunoda when asked if he’s thought about a podium finish. “I will say [I’m] more like dreaming rather than targeting, to be honest. It will be tough, I’m expecting it’ll be challenging and it won’t be as easy as probably people think. It’s such a limited time to adapt and it’s another different beast as well, but I’ll do my best and if I can go through to Q3 and score points, I’m happy.”
Tsunoda added that Red Bull team principal Christian Horner had set him the target of getting as close as possible to Verstappen, as well as being a factor strategically and contributing with good feedback.
“Basically, be as close to Max as possible, which gives a good result, I’m sure, for the team,” said Tsunoda when asked what Horner has said he wants him to achieve. “Also, allow the team to support also on the strategy as well in the race.
“They clearly said the main priority is Max, which I completely understand, because he's a four-time world champion and even [when] the car is in a difficult situation he still performed well. So to be close as much as possible to Max, and also help the development as well with my feedback.
“They seem very happy with the feedback I gave in Abu Dhabi, so just continue that. For now, the main priority I'm having is to be closest to him, which won't be easy.”
Tsunoda is expected to be given until the end of the season to prove himself, although given Red Bull’s track record it’s impossible to say what might happen. But Tsunoda himself said that “I didn’t get any specific races, [setting] the time I have to prove [myself]”.
Confident despite car 'trickiness'
Tsunoda’s preparation has been limited. He explained he’d initially been called by Horner “right after China” and warned that “maybe things are going to change a little bit”. He was able to try the RB21 in the simulator as he was already in Milton Keynes for pre-event preparation with Racing Bulls in its new facility adjacent to Red Bull Racing, even before the swap with Lawson was confirmed. At least in the virtual world, he says he didn’t feel the car was “crazy tricky”.
“In the simulator, I’m sure it’s not fully correct in terms of the trickiness of the car, but at least it didn’t feel crazy, crazy tricky,” said Tsunoda. “But at the same time, I can feel what the drivers were mentioning about the instability or driver confidence things.
“I tried different set-ups, multiple setups that I wanted to try to make it a little bit better and those two days in the sim were pretty productive. At least I know what kind of direction I want to start [in]. It seems to be a good baseline for overall performance as well.”
Tsunoda also suggested he doesn’t expect to have to change his driving style given what he’s proven at Racing Bulls. However, that’s unlikely to mean he will default purely to his favoured late-braking approach given he’s broadened his technique in the past couple of years.
Instead, it can be interpreted as meaning that he can apply the driving toolkit he has evolved since coming into F1 in 2021 to the Red Bull.
“I didn’t feel the exact trickiness yet,” said Tsunoda. “I have a bit of an idea from the simulator, but it's always bit different from the simulator, the real car.
“So I'll see after FP1 if I have to change set-up, but I don't think I have to change my driving style because so far it works well with VCARB, otherwise probably I wouldn't be here wearing this [Red Bull] logo.
“So I just do whatever I was doing previously, and I go step by step to build the pace and everything. But let's see, maybe I don't have to do that, maybe the car is straight away good. Here last year, I think Red Bull had pretty good performance with both cars, so I'm quite looking forward to it.”
Tsunoda also mentioned the value of his experience of last year’s Red Bull RB20 in the post-Abu Dhabi Grand Prix test in which he was “able to push immediately” and described the “big limitation with instability” as “quite clearly visible”.
But while that experience gives him confidence, he also accepts that “I didn’t have any reference driver” to benchmark himself against beyond the performance of the drivers in the preceding race weekend when track conditions were different.
Not expecting 'truth' from Verstappen
As well as saying he has his own ideas already about how to get the best from the troublesome Red Bull RB21, Tsunoda made it clear he doesn’t expect much help from Verstappen.
While it would be easy to question him saying that he doesn’t expect Verstappen to “say the truth” about the car, this simply reflects the nature of top-level F1 and Tsunoda’s confidence in his own ability to untangle the complexities of the machinery.
It’s not that Verstappen will hold him back or hide his data, simply that he’s not there to teach Tsunoda how to drive the car beyond the normal collaboration of team-mates.
“Not really, to be honest,” said Tsunoda when asked if he’s been able to tap into Verstappen’s experience of what makes the car work.
“And I think even if I tap his shoulder and ask about the car, I don’t think he’s going to say the truth. I’ve just got to discover [it] myself in data, how he’s driving, [and] also on the onboard [footage]. I already checked multiple videos from him in the last three grands prix [to see] how he’s driving.
“The thing is, I didn’t feel the trickiness about the car yet, so I will feel it myself. I’m sure it also depends on driving style, [which means] it will behave a little bit differently. Once I feel the car, I’m sure with my five year’s experience it will give some ideas to sort it out.
“If I really struggle or whatever - no, [even then] I don’t think [I will] ask him – I’m just going to discover with my engineers. The engineers so far have been very helpful and already gave some idea of the characteristics that’s giving the drivers less confidence. Every [piece of] information is already stuck in my head and it’s pretty clear, so I just have to see how it goes after FP1.”
No word from Marko before Japan
Helmut Marko, Red Bull’s motorsport advisor and the head of its driver programme, has been vocal about the driver change, referring to the “transformation” of Tsunoda and praising the technical feedback from the recent simulator sessions.
However, Tsunoda himself was surprised not to have heard from Marko directly by the time he was asked about this in the FIA press conference held at 12:30pm on Thursday at Suzuka.
“Surprisingly, he didn’t call me yet, very unusual,” said Tsunoda. “So [I’m] not sure if he was busy with other things, but I can’t wait to see him, how he’s going to react to me.
“It’s a bit unusual, from F3 to F1, he has always been calling me, but this time he didn’t.
“I’m sure there’s not anything from his side. Even [in] the last two races we still had a good relationship, we didn’t have any moments between us. So let’s see how he arrived at the track and see in person.”
