Yuki Tsunoda has opened up about his ongoing adaptation to the Red Bull RB21 ahead of the 2025 Miami Grand Prix. Tsunoda described the Red Bull as a car that “has a sharper, narrower window where it performs.” After three races in the RB21, Tsunoda says he’s building confidence but admits there’s still more to learn—especially when it comes to pushing the car to its limits in qualifying.
Tsunoda stated he was feeling “confident” with the RB21 after the first three races. “It just needs more time, I guess, to get used to it fully. I’m happy with the progress so far. The confidence is quite there, but just when you push 100% on the limit in qualifying, that’s where you kind of face it for the first time, right? Because you don’t push 100% until then. The starting point is always slightly below where I want to be or where I used to start with in FP1, so it takes a bit more time to build up on new tracks,” Tsunoda said.
“In qualifying, most of the time so far I experience new behaviour from the car, and I’m not always able to cope with it. I wouldn’t say the car is super difficult – it just needs more time to define where the limit is,” he added.
Tsunoda admitted the RB21 is a complicated car compared to the VCARB.
Tsunoda stated the car was not “complicated in the sense of trying to drive around.” The Red Bull driver went on to mention the lack of forgiveness compared to the VCARB.
“In VCARB, the car was a bit more lenient and forgiving with any directions. The Red Bull has a sharper, narrower window where it performs. It’s not easier than VCARB, but better than I thought initially when I jump into Red Bull. This is the first time after joining Formula 1 [that I’m in a different car]. For four years I drove the same car and knew how to set it up and where the limit was.”
“Now, I just naturally didn’t have to think about it before, but now, in terms of set-ups… The set-up I tried a couple of times in Suzuka that I thought would be good, just didn’t work out – even when in the car, the balance felt good, the lap time didn’t reflect it. So that needs to come from experience, and sometimes you just have to accept the difficulties of the car. Like, if it feels like a lot of understeer or oversteer, but lap time is good, probably stick to that direction. It’s a different approach. I’m learning as much as possible. The team is helping a lot with those direction. I just have to get used to it. But the limit, I just still don’t know yet exactly.”
Tsunoda still facing a learning curve with the team.
Tsunoda stated, “Like in Q3 in Saudi, I pushed a bit more and had a massive snap, which I didn’t expect. It will get there. I just try to keep my head down and slowly build up. Even with the general environment [within the team], me and my engineer – he’s Scottish, so a mix of Scottish English and my Japanese English – it’s a bit interesting. Those things just need more time to blend in.”
Tsunoda “feeling very comfortable” in Italy
The Red Bull driver admitted he did not have “the best time” living in the UK when he lived in Milton Keynes. Tsunoda stated he was happy living in Italy for the time being and felt the most comfortable there.
“I think I’ve been enough in the UK. I don’t think there’s much benefit,” he said.
Tsunoda continued, “I have more benefits living in Italy rather than… yeah. I mean, healthy, living next to him. Yeah. I just feel, you know, like… unfortunately, when I was living in Milton Keynes, it was during quarantine, so I didn’t have the best time in the UK. That didn’t help for sure.”
“But with this kind of Formula 1 schedule, when you have downtime, it’s very important that you have a house where you can be comfortable with in order to reset your mind. So far, Italy is allowing me to reset and I feel very comfortable. I’m happy with Italy. I’m happy to go to Milton Keynes for simulator sessions or whatever.”
What’s expected from Tsunoda ahead of the 2025 Miami GP?
As Tsunoda heads into the 2025 Miami Grand Prix, he will want to remain focused on building his confidence with the RB21. While he has been making steady progress across his first three weekends with Red Bull, particularly with car handling, he will be hoping for a strong qualifying performance and coming to grips with the car during Friday and Saturday practice. The sharper performance window of the RB21 presents ongoing challenges for Tsunoda. He will be hoping that with more time and experience, his confidence builds in his ability to adapt. Miami will offer another opportunity for him to gain further understanding of the limits of his car.
