Peter Bayer wants to keep Yuki Tsunoda at V-CARB next year

During the press conference on Friday, Racing Bulls’ executive director, Peter Bayer, said he was particularly pleased with Yuki Tsunoda’s performances this year. The Japanese driver regularly qualifies in Q3 and has 15 points to his name, compared to just 5 for Daniel Ricciardo.

« I definitely believe that he has taken a big step forward. It’s a physical preparation, but it’s also his mental preparation to perform and deliver », explained the Austrian. « One example I mentioned the other day: I think he simply understood that every time he swore on the radio, it cost him a tenth of a second. So, he controlled himself. He is extremely professional in the work he puts into giving feedback to the engineers. And yes, he has definitely taken a big step forward », he added, before saying that he wants to keep him next year.

Yuki Tsunoda’s contract is coming to an end at the end of this season. Yesterday, the Japanese driver also stated that he wanted to stay with VCARB, but would look elsewhere if they are not interested. It seems that his message did not fall on deaf ears. It’s still necessary to sign… And here, Peter Bayer dodges announcing his 2025 drivers’ deadline.

VCARB focused on Aston Martin

« I think we are very satisfied with our two drivers. And honestly, we don’t waste time discussing “ifs” and “whens”. We have a very strong lineup. We have an excellent reserve driver. We have great talents coming from F2, from F3. And right now, it’s about focusing on performance. And maybe the focus is more on Aston Martin ahead of us than on driver discussions.

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One aspect to improve, however, is undoubtedly the starting process at VCARB. During the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix, both Yuki Tsunoda and Daniel Ricciardo lost positions at the start. Peter Bayer does not back down. Throughout the season, we had very mixed emotions about the starts. Some very good starts, others not so good, like at Imola. But maybe at Imola, this was exacerbated by the fact that you have turn 1 and it can regroup on the left or right side. And we were a bit unlucky to be stuck on the left side, he explained.

Before admitting that « yes, I believe we can improve ourselves as in all areas. We will certainly examine all the different elements, from tires to clutch, and everything related to it. But I suppose one thing I can say is that our optimum seems to be in a very narrow window and probably we need to consider how we can widen the window for the operation and slightly the procedure so that it is a bit more tolerant than what it is currently », he further explained.

Peter Bayer concluded by saying that the goal now is to look forward, to keep pushing and challenging (competitors), one by one. We will do our best and fight until the end.