Christian Horner promises to give Yuki Tsunoda time at Red Bull
Christian Horner says Red Bull will give « time and support » to Yuki Tsunoda to build up his confidence in the car, with the team boss believing the Japanese driver can succeed after showing « flashes of performance ».
Yuki Tsunoda was promoted to Red Bull after the first two races of the season from the sister team, Racing Bulls. The 25-year-old driver swapped places with Liam Lawson, following a challenging start to the season for the New Zealander.
A complicated adaptation
Although Yuki Tsunoda has scored points in three of his seven Grand Prix races with Red Bull so far, he is struggling to match the pace of his teammate Max Verstappen. He notably had two very difficult weekends in Monaco and Barcelona, failing to qualify in Q3 each time.
Currently, he is in 15th place in the drivers’ championship with 10 points, compared to Max Verstappen’s 134, who has thus scored alone, 134 of the team’s 144 points.
When asked in Barcelona about what Red Bull can do to help Yuki Tsunoda gain confidence behind the wheel of the RB21, Christian Horner replied: « I think the only thing we can do is give him time and support, and try to provide him with a setup in which he is confident. »
« Driving these cars is above all a matter of confidence, and that’s what he needs to regain. I think he will manage it. He is fast. He just needs to succeed in putting everything together. We regularly see flashes of performance. He just needs to bring it all together. I believe he is capable of that », he declares.
Give the Japanese time
Several drivers have succeeded one another alongside the four-time F1 World Champion, Max Verstappen, in recent years (Pierre Gasly, Alex Albon, Sergio Perez), and Christian Horner has also been questioned about future options for this second seat, including the possibility that Racing Bulls driver Isack Hadjar might be in the running after a strong start to the season as a rookie.
But the Briton was adamant, the team is not in a hurry to make a decision on this matter. « I will follow Flavio [Briatore]’s example and say: ‘I don’t want to answer’ », he said.
« Look, it’s still early for Yuki. He is still in the process of adapting. He has already reached Q3, scored points, even starting from the pit lane. He has also had some incidents, so he still has a lot to learn. We will decide in due course. We have plenty of time on our side. »
To be continued then.
