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After two Grand Prix weekends with the reigning champions, Yuki Tsunoda is still finding his footing at Oracle Red Bull Racing. The Japanese driver, who replaced Liam Lawson after the Chinese GP, has stated that while he is trying to improve, he's often concentrating on different issues to those of teammate Max Verstappen.
Tsunoda made the mid-season switch from Racing Bulls to Red Bull ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix, finishing P12 at Suzuka. The move marked a major step in his career, but as the 24-year-old acknowledged this past weekend, the process of adjusting to Red Bull's RB21 has been far from straightforward.
He discussed the concerns of his #22 Oracle Red Bull Racing RB21 (via Junaid Samodien):.
"I think Bahrain was the track where, in my opinion, the RB21's weaknesses were much more apparent than on other tracks. I was concentrating on completely different things…I feel like I am still a rookie in this team."
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The Japanese driver scored his first points with a P9 finish at the Bahrain Grand Prix. Despite his solid performance at Sakhir, Yuki Tsunoda emphasized that he's still working to understand the RB21's nuances, particularly how it behaves outside its optimal operating window.
Compared to Verstappen, who has the benefit of four-winning seasons with the team and the RB21, Tsunoda admitted he is still playing catch-up. He further elaborated in an interview with F1 media:
"Probably Max (Verstappen) knows much more about this car. Even though the car is not in the window that this car wants, he is still able to extract performance slightly better than myself. That gives a lot of difference in qualifying, especially when it's a really tight session. But, it's not the easiest way to find this window that we want."
The RB21, while dominant at times, has shown a narrow setup window that both drivers and the team are grappling with. According to Tsunoda, they've had to frequently adjust downforce levels between sessions, which limits consistency across the Formula 1 race weekends.
"It's quite complicated": Yuki Tsunoda on RB21’s handling challenges
Despite the challenges, Yuki Tsunoda remains focused on improving his qualifying performances and staying consistent heading into Jeddah. While Verstappen has typically masked the car's issues with his driving, Tsunoda is still working on adapting his approach from what he was used to at Racing Bulls.
When asked whether the RB21 was inherently complicated, Tsunoda gave a clear response that underlined both setup intricacies and driver adaptation.
"In terms of how I feel in the car, it's okay. But in terms of how this car operates in the window that this car likes, and to build it up throughout the week, in that window it's quite complicated," Tsunoda said (via @Hawk9248 on X).
The challenge, as Tsunoda outlined, lies not only in learning a new car but also in recalibrating his weekend rhythm. Especially around tire warm-up, balance and downforce tweaks which are different to Racing Bulls. It's an area where Red Bull has historically been strong, but it demands extreme precision from its drivers.
As he heads into his third weekend with the main team, Yuki Tsunoda will be aiming to build more confidence and bring his #22 RB21 into that elusive performance window. Red Bull has won three of the four races at the Saudi Grand Prix and the focus will be on Tsunoda to close the gap and deliver a consistent weekend.
