Intriguing Yuki Tsunoda trait impresses Red Bull

Yuki Tsunoda's key trait of not being intimidated by being Max Verstappen's teammate has been impressive, according to Red Bull's Paul Monaghan. The Japanese driver currently occupies arguably the toughest seat in F1, and compared to his predecessor, he seems to be far more secure in his demeanor.

Ever since Daniel Ricciardo left at the end of 2018, Red Bull has struggled to find a teammate for Max Verstappen who could be remotely competitive against him. Excellent drivers like Pierre Gasly, Alex Albon, Sergio Perez, and Liam Lawson have occupied the seat and have been worn down by the challenge.

The problem has been two-fold, as Max Verstappen has arguably been the best driver in F1 for a while now. At the same time, Red Bull's cars in the last few years have not been as driver-friendly. Extracting the best out of the car has been very tough, and that has led to the Dutch driver's teammates finding it hard to keep up and hence deliver results anywhere close to what Verstappen does.

Things hit a low when Liam Lawson was fired by Red Bull this season after just two races as the Kiwi appeared to struggle to live up to the challenge. That's when Yuki Tsunoda got his promotion, and while the Japanese driver has not become a perennial competitor for Max Verstappen, signs have been positive in terms of what he's doing in the car.

Tsunoda has quite clearly been a step ahead of Lawson, and that has led to adulation from a lot of key Red Bull members. Paul Monaghan was also quite complimentary of Yuki, as he said that the Japanese driver does not appear to be intimidated by the prospect of being Max Verstappen's teammate. As quoted by F1, he said,

“He’s not afraid to speak his mind, he states what he wants and what he doesn’t like, which is good. He’s in the team, he’s a good member of it, and he’ll be fine. He seems able to avoid the intimidation of being Max’s team mate at the moment, so that’s really good. I’m impressed. He’s got more than a spine to him.”

He added,

“He seems to be settling in really well, actually. It’s not the easiest circumstances to step into. He came in, he’s been forthright in his feedback, he’s been courteous, he’s been a good team member. He’s been a little bit unlucky at times, lucky at others… He’s finding his feet.”

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Red Bull happy with the understanding of the car

When questioned how he'd rate the 2025 F1 season so far, Paul Monaghan was quite positive as he said that he was quite happy with the kind of understanding the team has gained of the RB21. The team has had a few strong moments, like the race in Japan where Red Bull won, or the race in Jeddah where it was the fastest car. He said,

“In terms of understanding it, good. We’ve made a lot of progress since its debut. Obviously Japan [Verstappen’s pole position and victory] was a bit of a highlight, Bahrain [a battle for minor points] was a bit of a low point, but in terms of actually grasping and understanding it, we dusted ourselves down for Jeddah and we were a lot better in relative terms – we could have won it."

He added,

“So, understanding it, good, improving it, small steps – it’s not going to be a magic moment. Incrementally it will get better and better and better, and then we’ll see if we do it faster than our opposition.”

Red Bull is arguably looking at the upgrades that the team would bring in Imola to see if the car can get closer to McLaren in terms of competitiveness. The title bid is going to depend on how those upgrades work.