Returning to Silverstone for the 2025 British GP for the first time in a Red Bull, Yuki Tsunoda will be hoping to bounce back after another tough weekend following the Austrian GP last weekend. After struggling for pace in the Red Bull since joining the senior team at the Japanese GP, Tsunoda says he still feels “positive” with the direction he is going at the moment with the Red Bull team.
Tsunoda reflects on difficult race in Austria
After finishing in P16 at the Austrian GP, Tsunoda said the issue during the race was to do with the mistakes he made himself. “The issue in the race was me. The overtake… tried to overtake in a way that probably I could just wait one more lap. It was a bit unnecessary to push flat out that much in that situation. So, the race craft wasn’t ideal for myself.”
Despite the clearly difficult weekend for the young Japanese driver, he seemed positive coming into the British GP. Tsunoda said, “We worked so hard last couple of days into here, what we can do better or not. And we’re going to try another couple of stuff that I never thought about. So yeah, I’m looking forward to it, feeling strong. I think in the short run it will just come hopefully soon in terms of the confidence level I want.”
Tsunoda went on to voice his opinion about the support he is feeling from the team despite the poor results. “I feel definitely the support, especially these days and more than ever, from Christian, Helmut. I went to the south of UK with a physio Red Bull Racing to kind of reset myself, and that was coming from them.”
Tsunoda feels confident about Red Bull seat security
When asked at the British GP about the indication of not being switched out mid-season, Tsunoda felt the support from Helmut Marko and Christian Horner. “Yes, rather than him saying probably going switch in two races or whatever, for sure. But like I said, him and Christian are very supportive. He was not obviously happy with my race in Austria, but at the same time, he’s still willing to continuously help or support me. He still trusts my talent and the speed, so I just have to prove on track that I can do it.”
“Helmut is just a direct guy. Some races if you do bad, he just tells me what was wrong and what was right. It’s a kind of pressure that he gives me. Sometimes brings me into the level that I never think about or extracts from me some performance. It’s just the way that he works since when I was a junior, and yeah, I appreciate the amount of support I’m getting so far.”
Tsunoda feels he just needs “to build up” in the Red Bull
Tsunoda echoed the comments when asked at the British GP surrounding how tough the Red Bull second driver seat is, saying, “Yeah. I mean, I don’t know. It depends on the driver, but also at the same time, I didn’t see yet so far the driver who probably got used to it in that car straight away. So that’s probably the fact, but at the same time, I feel I’m in the right direction, at least on the short runs.”
Tsunoda also mentioned the upgrade package he had not received yet and how it is hoping to give him better confidence. “Yeah, I missed out probably Q1 in Austria, but at the same time, gap was pretty small. Also in terms of the whole package, I know there’s something to come as well into this year compared to Max. So once I get full package, I still have good confidence that I can be in a level that they want. That’s what I’m working hard on. In terms of the long run is exactly the place that I’m still probably struggling at, but I’ll find a way. I saw a couple of driving styles that I can try that I never tried in my career in Formula 1,” Tsunoda said.
