Yuki Tsunoda will spend his fifth season at Red Bull’s second team this year after the world champions chose not to appoint him as Max Verstappen’s new team mate.
While Liam Lawson moves to Red Bull after just 11 grand prix starts, Tsunoda faces another season at their junior squad. Red Bull’s motorsport consultant Helmut Marko has revealed why the team picked a much less experienced driver than Tsunoda to replace Sergio Perez.
“In terms of speed, Tsunoda is definitely the faster of the two at the moment,” Marko told Sport, but noted “he lacks the necessary consistency and continues to make mistakes.”
Tsunoda made his F1 debut with Red Bull’s second team, then known as AlphaTauri, in 2021. Although he has impressed the team with his speed on some occasions, they still have doubts over his composure.
At last year’s season-opening grand prix in Bahrain, Tsunoda reacted unhappily when his team ordered him to let team mate Daniel Ricciardo past as he was running on much softer tyres. Tsunoda almost caused a collision with his team mate after they took the chequered flag. Later in the year he was fined €40,000 for using offensive language on his radio when he was delayed by other drivers in the pits during a qualifying session.
Marko admitted Red Bull were concerned Tsunoda “slows down and loses his composure” when he gets rattled. “His outbursts of anger have improved considerably but remain an issue,” said Marko. “He loses control.”
Verstappen has emphatically beaten his last three team mates in Formula 1. Red Bull dropped Pierre Gasly after just 12 races alongside him while his replacement, Alexander Albon, lasted a year and a half. Perez spent four seasons at the team but even he lost the qualifying battle 80-7 alongside Verstappen.
Marko said Red Bull were concerned how Tsunoda might react when faced with the challenge of measuring up to Verstappen.
“We believe it would cause significant emotional challenges for Tsunoda if he realised alongside Max that he couldn’t beat him, or perhaps even get close to him, and that things weren’t going as he had imagined,” he said.
Red Bull viewed Lawson as “the mentally strongest of our juniors,” despite his limited experience. “He has the mental fortitude to race alongside Verstappen and accept that he won’t be able to challenge the Dutchman,” said Marko.
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