Yuki Tsunoda keeps building his case for a Red Bull Racing seat. After another strong Qualifying performance at the Chinese Grand Prix, Tsunoda looks more ready than ever to make the jump. The Japanese driver secured P9 for Sunday’s Grand Prix, while his Visa Cash App Racing Bulls F1 Team teammate Isack Hadjar impressed with P7. But all eyes are on Yuki—not just for his results, but for what they could mean for his future.
A solid weekend so far in Shanghai
Tsunoda has looked sharp from the first session of the weekend. He finished P6 in Saturday morning’s Sprint, showing solid racecraft and pace. In qualifying for the Grand Prix later in the day, Tsunoda was on track for another strong result. But a mistake in Turn 13 on his final Q2 lap stopped him from going further.
“Yeah, just had a bit of a moment in Turn 13 and went off track, wasn’t able to finish the lap,” Tsunoda explained, after the Chinese GP Qualifying session.
“Until then it was a pretty good lap, to be honest. I wanted to do a game similar to Australia, but it just didn’t work out.”
Even with the slip-up, Tsunoda came away from qualifying upbeat. He praised the team for their progress since the Sprint Qualifying session, where he finished P8. “As a team, we did a good job,” he said, “We made a huge step even compared to the Sprint Qualifying.”
Racing Bulls show unexpected strength in Shanghai
Racing Bulls has surprised many with its consistency on very different tracks, with Tsunoda himself stating that he believed his performance in Australia to be a one-off. Shanghai’s long, sweeping corners seemed like they would expose the team’s weaknesses. Instead, Tsunoda found himself pleasantly surprised by the car’s balance and pace during the Chinese GP weekend.
“To be honest, Australia, I thought the performance was coming from the track characteristics,” he said.
“But it seems like even China, which has a lot of different characteristics, longer corners that I thought would be a big limitation for us, we’re still performing consistently—as much as Australia. Big surprise.”
Tsunoda credited the factory team for delivering a car with a much stronger front end than last season. “The car seems to have quite a strong front end, so it allows you to attack,” he explained. “Last year was a bit more of a struggle with the initial turn-in instability, but I think the people in the factory made a huge step to sort it out.”
Tsunoda commends “really good job” by rookie teammate Hadjar
Tsunoda also took time to acknowledge the impressive job his teammate Isack Hadjar is doing this weekend after an incident in the Australian GP formation lap ended with the Frenchman in the wall, and his confidence wavering.
“Yeah, he did a really good job,” Tsunoda said. “He bounced back really strong. A big credit to him, he brought back his confidence and he seems to enjoy it so far, so I’m happy to see that. I’ll just keep supporting him and we’ll progress as a team together.”
As for himself, despite the rumours swirling around the Red Bull seat, Tsunoda intends to remain focused on his current team’s success, particularly at this F1 Chinese GP.
“I’m quite excited for us as a team,” he added. “We have good potential to have a really successful season.”
Tsunoda would like to drive the RB 21
As Liam Lawson continues to struggle at Red Bull Racing—qualifying last for both the Sprint and the Grand Prix in Shanghai—Tsunoda’s name keeps coming up as the top candidate to replace him in the RB21. His consistent performances with the Racing Bulls have only fueled the speculation.
When asked if he’d like to drive the RB21, Tsunoda didn’t hesitate, grinning as he replied, “Always. In Japan, yeah. The car is faster. I’m sure, yeah.”
Eyes forward to Sunday’s Grand Prix
Despite the speculation, however, Tsunoda understands that he needs to remain focused on the Chinese GP. He knows that the race won’t be easy, and expects both himself and Hadjar to face pressure from rivals behind, including drivers with fresher tyres. Regardless, the goal remains clear—stay competitive and bring home points.
“If I can do similar as the Sprint race, maybe we can fight Antonelli. If I can pass him at the start,” Tsunoda said when asked about his targets.
“They have fresher tyres, so it’s going to be harder to defend, but we never know.”
