Yuki Tsunoda opened up about having Max Verstappen as a teammate at Red Bull and what steps he intends to take to elevate his performance on track during the F1 Saudi Arabian GP last week.
Since his promotion to the senior team from Racing Bulls ahead of the Japanese GP, the 24-year-old has been struggling to adapt to the tricky RB21. Although he made it to the final segment of qualifying in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, he only has 2 points to his name so far as an official Red Bull driver.
In contrast, Tsunoda’s world champion teammate is sitting third in the championship standings with two pole positions and a stunning victory at Suzuka under his belt.
Tsunoda thinks current gap to Verstappen is acceptable
Speaking in a media session during the F1 Saudi Arabian GP weekend, Yuki Tsunoda shared his insights into the performance deficit he has in comparison to Verstappen and whether he can take a meaningful step forward in the near future.
The Japanese driver explained that it’s difficult to deduce anything yet, given that the two teammates ran levels of downforce at Suzuka and Sakhir. Stating that Red Bull is working hard to make the RB21 as drivable as possible for him, he added that he finds his current gap to Verstappen acceptable.
Moreover, Tsunoda revealed that his driving style, especially in terms of how he brakes, is relatively closer to that of the Dutchman.
“The funny thing is the last two Grands Prix we were running different downforce, so it’s hard to tell. Not so far, not much, I would say.
“I’m showing how the car condition is already. The team is putting massive effort to make it as close as possible. I guess slightly there is a bit of that as well, but at the same time, it’s within the range that we can accept and I can for sure accept.
“So far, the driving style, actually, how the brake shape and the releasing part, everything is quite close. I never thought about how the driving style is between us, but so far it’s not too far away.”
Consistent downforce would enable Tsunoda to unlock more pace
Commenting on the downforce levels, the 24-year-old elaborated that he was keen to maintain a consistent approach since Suzuka and that he opted to run more downforce than Verstappen as a result.
Referring to this offset, Yuki Tsunoda revealed during a Saudi Arabian GP media session that Red Bull are focused on ensuring that the RB21 generates steady levels of downforce with subsequent upgrades. He also claimed that this consistency would enable him to unlock more pace from the car on a regular basis.
“It’s the same as Suzuka. I just didn’t want to make it inconsistent. He [Max Verstappen] went lower, I went higher.
“So it’s the offset. I hope that’s also one of the weaknesses or the things that we want to achieve to be consistent throughout the week, especially downforce level, which is so far, going up and down, last two Grands Prix, since I joined at least.
“If I can have consistent downforce in the car, I can also build up the pace quite smoothly.”
Tsunoda claims Verstappen is more sensitive to the needs of the RB21
Despite its shortcomings, Verstappen has been more confident in the handling of the RB21 and extracting the most from it.
In terms of whether the four-time world champion has a different mindset or whether he applies specific skills that nobody else can, Tsunoda claimed that Verstappen is significantly more attuned to the specificities of the car.
The new Red Bull driver referred to how the Dutchman could sense what the car required and how he accordingly adjusted the tyre warm-up throughout the different sessions in qualifying at Suzuka.
“I think it’s like he can feel more than myself in the car, like how the tyre temp looks like immediately out of the garage. In qualifying, Suzuka was a good example.
“The tyre temp is going lower and lower throughout qualifying and he adjusted Q1 to Q3. When the temperature is going lower, he adjusted it himself in warm-up how he should put pressure into the tyres in each corner, increase the lap time or increase the pace of the outlap or whatever.
“But for me, I didn’t feel it that way.”
Confidence in the car key to unlocking more performance
Stating that he was able to discern these changing conditions well at Racing Bulls, Yuki Tsunoda revealed ahead of the F1 Saudi Arabian GP that he hasn’t been able to do so in the RB21 because he is not comfortable driving it yet.
Emphasising the sensitivity of the current generation of cars and how minor adjustments can radically alter the performance, the Japanese driver nonetheless admitted that he is content with the progress he is making.
“I wasn’t able to feel that, which I did in the VCARB. But I wasn’t able to feel it in this car yet because I’m not fully relaxed driving in this car. I just feel like I’m still rushing and not fully in control.
“I can’t expect it, so I’m not really like, well, what is this car?
“Actually, I’m in a shape that I’m happier than I expected. Like I said, I’m rushing, but I’m not really rushing. But I think that kind of few details are really important with this car and the regulations.
“It’s very sensitive on tyre and even a few milliseconds in each corner makes a lot of difference.”
