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Red Bull's Helmut Marko revealed how the team assisted Yuki Tsunoda using his teammate, Max Verstappen's track data, to train him for the upcoming races. This training reportedly took place after Monza, and the Japanese driver delivered competitive results in the next race.
He finished the F1 Azerbaijan GP in P6, his best result with Red Bull so far. Tsunoda was promoted to the team earlier this season, but had failed to deliver competitive results, all while Verstappen managed to pull off points consistently and clinched multiple victories.
Tsunoda's surge in performance coincided with a training session he underwent shortly after the Italian Grand Prix earlier this month. RBR's team advisor, Helmut Marko, revealed that they utilized Max Verstappen's track data and provided assistance to Tsunoda accordingly.
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"We sat together after the race in Monza," Marko told Sky DE. "There, Tsunoda was sometimes a second slower than Max. We took a different approach. Simply put: because he doesn't have the same experience as Max, you have to coach him more."
He added:
"You have to give him comparisons, like: what does Max do in that corner, where does he brake, with what force, that sort of thing. We also tuned the car more to his needs, so the car doesn't react so critically."
The 25-year-old driver has been improving steadily throughout the season. While he didn't score consistent points, he could sign a deal with the team for the future if he manages to keep up the performance he showcased in Baku.
Yuki Tsunoda highlights improvement he observed after Monza
Discussing his overall performance on the track this season with Red Bull Racing, Yuki Tsunoda recently mentioned certain improvements that he noticed after the Italian Grand Prix earlier.
Speaking to the media in Baku, he claimed that his improvement from Monza was reflected in the second practice session of the weekend. However, he added that his performance still doesn't match Max Verstappen's level.
"I unlocked something [in Monza], which I proved in FP2 and long-runs as well," Tsunoda said (via PlanetF1). "I just started, kind of, this approach and obviously quality is not on a level that probably Max is doing now."
He added:
"But step by step. I think [I] was not at least as far [behind] as I had been in the previous race week. So definitely positive. I think also it shows some improvement for myself, that I put some effort over the weeks to put in extra work, to do some extra simulator work. And I think that pays off for a little bit. I’ll just keep doing what I’m doing."
Despite the improvement, Yuki Tsunoda is not close to challenging Max Verstappen at this point in the season. The team sits in fourth place in the Constructors' Championship, but can manage to get ahead of Ferrari in third if they pull off similar results that they did in Baku earlier.
