by Red Bull’s most overlooked driver Yuki Tsunoda says he needs to be near perfect if he wants to win the shootout to become Max Verstappen’s teammate for 2025.
Liam Lawson has been sent into Daniel Ricciardo’s RB spot for the remainder of 2024, effectively promoting himself as Sergio Perez’s replacement at senior Red Bull Racing team.
Ricciardo was touted as a potential Perez replacement and was deployed at RB as a “backstop” for Perez, as team boss Christian Horner put it. Tsunoda’s role seemed to be more that of a benchmark RB driver against whom others could be measured, rather than a future Red Bull Racing driver himself.
“Take [Tsunoda] As a data point, we saw Daniel where he compared himself to Yuki. “It will be very interesting to see how Liam does in the last six remaining races,” Horner said after Ricciardo’s retirement.
Red Bull has overlooked Tsunoda despite generally outperforming Ricciardo in 2024, having beaten Ricciardo’s predecessor Nyck de Vries in the first half of 2023 and having made great strides since a patchy rookie season in 2021.
He has never been a serious candidate for promotion to the senior team before, but Tsunoda believes Lawson’s entry is effectively just a continuation of the fight for the second Red Bull seat, which he has been a part of since the start of 2024.
“Maybe from the outside. But for me it’s kind of been like that since the first race [already been a] “Shootout between me and Daniel,” Tsunoda said when The Race told him it was a six-race shootout with Lawson.
“Who will be ahead all the time? [influences] Contracts for next year. For me it is [the shootout is] part of the whole season.
Tsunoda says there are always Red Bull rumors “circulating” and he’s “got used to it, there’s no point in talking about it.”
He continued: “I just have to continue to prove myself with results and the way I work on the race weekends. Stay focused on what I have to do and the possibilities – whatever it is.” [Red Bull].”
The Race asked Tsunoda what he still needs to improve as a driver to get the promotion, with the fourth-year driver looking to eliminate any remaining excuses Red Bull has for not promoting him.
“I just have to continue to prove myself and be a driver where there aren’t a lot of things that I left them that they could blame me for.” [or say] “OK, there are things you haven’t improved or are missing, so you can’t be at Red Bull,” Tsunoda said.
“I’ll just try to be close [being the] Perfect driver, that’s what I have to do.
Tsunoda agreed that the shootout only intensifies the competition between teammates and said it will add “a little more spice” “on top of the usual” dynamic.
“I know these things are just floating around anyway [Red Bull rumours]Tsunoda said.
“They are not things that I saw with my eyes literally on the table, at least not on my side.
“I’m just focused on what I have to do and Liam will do a good job too and I’ll make sure I’m ahead of him and hopefully can get P6.” [RB is three points ahead of a rapidly closing Haas team] in the championship. That’s the main goal.”
He has not spoken to Ricciardo since an “emotional” exchange immediately after the Singapore Grand Prix in which they told each other they “appreciated each other.”
Tsunoda described Ricciardo as the “driver I have learned the most from” of his four F1 teammates so far.
THE RACE SAYS
A lose-lose situation?
I can’t help but feel like Tsunoda is in for another undeserved fix here.
If Lawson beats him in these six races, Tsunoda’s chances of promotion at Red Bull for the rest of his career are completely gone.
But even if he gains the upper hand over Lawson in the next six races, there’s a big risk that his tenure and experience will present such major caveats that he continues to be overlooked. It will likely be seen as a reflection of Lawson’s failure rather than Tsunoda’s success.
Just look at 2024 so far. Tsunoda made nine Q3 appearances to Ricciardo’s three and edged him 22-12. But that was simply seen as a Ricciardo failure rather than another example that Tsunoda could be a credible option for Red Bull if the idea were finally considered.
He has grown as a driver far beyond his unpredictable rookie season and the all-important “emotional control,” as Tsunoda puts it, has improved significantly.
If there are consistently drivers who don’t meet your benchmark, perhaps it’s time to realize that this says as much about the quality of your benchmark as it does about those who don’t meet it.
Tsunoda deserves Red Bull to make this Lawson-Perez fight a three-way shootout. And if Tsunoda surpasses Lawson later in 2024, he will more than deserve to become Red Bull’s all-time benchmark.
