With 20 points in the bag for Yuki Tsunoda, he has outshined and edged his more experienced teammate Daniel Ricciardo so far in 2024. The 35-year-old Australian is on 11 points himself, and trails the Japanese driver 3-9 in Grand Prix qualifying. In recent events Ricciardo has started to look stronger, improving his qualifying form in particular.
Red Bull team principal Christian Horner says nothing is ruled out regarding who will drive alongside Max Verstappen in the near future, pointing to their deal with Tsunoda that sees the Japanese driver continue at RB for a fifth season in 2025.
“You can never rule anything out, We have options for multiple years on him because we believe he’s a talent.”
Red Bull and RB’s reserve driver, Liam Lawson is also a contender for a drive, and it could come even sooner if Sergio Pérez is removed from the second seat.
The Kiwi gained the attention of many after impressing when stepping in for Ricciardo last year at Zandvoort through to Qatar. He made Q3 in Singapore — knocking out Max Verstappen in the process — and scored a superb P9 finish the following day.
The New Zealander has been linked to the Red Bull seat more than Tsunoda.
Horner was questioned about the lack of opportunities for Tsunoda as the Japanese has proven in the last couple of seasons that he’s a very quick driver.
“He’s a Red Bull Racing driver. He’s on a Red Bull Racing contract. You never know, maybe he’ll get a test one day, you never know.
”I think Yuki’s doing a good job, He got another point, he’s stringing weekends together, he’s doing a good job.”
The Red Bull boss also discussed how Daniel Ricciardo and his experience has helped Tsunoda improve as a driver outside the car.
“I think he’s benefited from having Daniel [Ricciardo] alongside him. He’ll openly admit that he’s learned from Daniel, in terms of having an experienced driver and how they interact with the team and the engineers.
“Yuki’s not a rookie anymore. He’s got quite a lot of experience now under his belt, and you can see he’s putting that to good use — and in difficult conditions like [Silverstone], I thought he drove a very good race.“
The Red Bull junior program has many upcoming stars, including Isack Hadjar and Arvid Lindblad. They have won multiple races this season in their respective F2 and F3 campaigns, with Lindblad having completed a clean sweep at Silverstone last weekend.
Hadjar who is now leading the Formula 2 Championship by 16 points following his win in the feature race last Sunday, ran in the RB20 during FP1 at Silverstone, following on from his FP1 with the team in Abu Dhabi last year. He also drove for AlphaTauri in first practice at Mexico in 2023.
Horner says Hadjar has put himself in contention for the second seat at the Faenza-based squad next year on the basis of his F2 performances in 2024 to date.
“Yeah, he’s doing a good job.
“He had a good weekend this weekend. Good to see both Isack and Arvid Lindblad win the Formula 3 race this morning. Two outstanding talents that are coming through.
“So, again, he’s making a strong case for himself next year which is why we’re not in any rush to finalise seats in the sister team.
“There’s always a chance.”
