Yuki Tsunoda is prepared for the hardest job in motorsports. Or, a minimum of, he believes he’s. At 24, with 4 seasons in Components 1 plus a robust begin to 2025 underneath his belt, he’s better-prepared for this chance than the person he changed, former teammate Liam Lawson, and backs himself to thrive even if partnering Max Verstappen at Crimson Bull Racing is regarded by most as profession poison.
Tsunoda has nothing to lose. This was destined to be his final 12 months within the Racing Bulls fold, with Crimson Bull crew principal Christian Horner saying final December that after 5 years in what he known as the “help crew,” there comes a degree the place “you’ve both obtained to allow them to go at that time or have a look at one thing totally different.” Tsunoda has proved himself worthy of a seat on the F1 grid, however alternatives are restricted for ’26 if Crimson Bull’s B-team doesn’t retain him. The soar to Crimson Bull presents a possibility to vary the path of his profession, and maybe even set up himself in a front-running crew for the long run.
It’s an enormous ask, provided that not solely is he being pitched right into a seat regarded by most because the hardest in F1 but in addition doing so with no prior expertise of the automobile, two races right into a season, and for his residence grand prix. The devotion of the house crowd and the will of circuit proprietor Honda for him to thrive means the stress will likely be intense, and the way Tsunoda offers with that might set him up for achievement or failure at Crimson Bull. He’ll get greater than the ludicrous two weekends afforded to Lawson, however the die will seemingly be solid by hook or by crook at Suzuka. Crimson Bull will quickly flip its consideration to figuring out a alternative for ’26 if Tsunoda doesn’t persuade – and persuade shortly.
It is a fascinating problem contemplating sources inside Crimson Bull have lengthy made it clear that query marks over Tsunoda’s mentality, greater than his driving skill, led to him repeatedly being handed over for promotion. This all began when Tsunoda first examined for what was then known as AlphaTauri within the post-season Abu Dhabi check in 2020 and the crew was astonished by how vocal and emotional his communications have been over the radio. It’s one thing Tsunoda has, by his personal admission, needed to work on.
Nonetheless, the notion has grow to be more and more anachronistic as Tsunoda has improved what he calls his “emotional management” considerably. The final time there was a notable drawback was within the Bahrain Grand Prix in 2024, when crew orders annoyed him late on and he made an announcement with an odd lunge and lockup previous Daniel Ricciardo on the slowdown lap. Since then, Tsunoda has been in a greater place, apart from utilizing an ableist slur throughout Austrian Grand Prix qualifying, for which he supplied “large apologies,” in addition to paying a considerable positive. However unacceptable language apart, too usually reliable pushbacks to crew directions are interpreted as problematic once they shouldn’t be. The newest instance was within the Chinese language Grand Prix, when he was proper to demand he work the entrance finish more durable and didn’t settle for the pit wall telling him to not. Shortly afterwards, his reasoning was understood and the crew backed the choice. Subsequently, the concept of a driver who is just not working together with his crew is an outdated one.
Tsunoda was comparatively undercooked when he first arrived in F1 with AlphaTauri in 2021 (above) however has grow to be way more well-rounded within the years since. Lars Baron/Getty Photos
F1 has been a steep studying curve for Tsunoda. When he arrived in 2021, ending ninth on debut in Bahrain, he had a single season in every of European F3 and F2 underneath his belt and was nonetheless very a lot a piece in progress. He confessed to underestimating how powerful the step as much as F1 could be, and his first season was a chastening expertise with too many errors. However he steadily realized, to the purpose the place he was capable of grow to be the crew’s spearhead as soon as Pierre Gasly left for Alpine on the finish of 2022. He’s now a much more reliable driver, and any patchiness in his outcomes is extra all the way down to his crew’s inconsistency than his personal shortcomings.
The primary two weekends of this 12 months have illustrated that. In Australia, he ran within the prime six till the rain returned on lap 44. The crew flip-flopped on technique, leaving him out for too lengthy whereas different groups known as their automobiles in, turning a robust consequence right into a pointless afternoon. The same factor occurred within the Chinese language Grand Prix, the place Racing Bulls caught with a two-stop technique as others tailored to 1. Solely his sturdy run to sixth within the Shanghai Dash rewarded him with factors in a season the place he has been a standout performer. The query now’s whether or not he can translate his very good kind at Racing Bulls into Crimson Bull Racing driving a sooner, however a lot trickier, automobile.
To make his promotion work, Tsunoda should a minimum of partially replicate Verstappen’s talent for extracting the potential from a troublesome automobile. The Crimson Bull RB21 has loads of downforce and grip; the difficulty is accessing its potential constantly as a consequence of its steadiness limitations. Success or failure in doing so makes the distinction between it being a podium menace and being vulnerable to elimination in Q1. Verstappen’s extraordinary skill is to drive the automobile in a method that minimizes the restrictions and makes essentially the most of that potential.
In qualifying particularly, Verstappen’s otherworldly skill to control the automobile on the brakes and turn-in is what unlocks its efficiency. The RB21 is susceptible to each understeer and rear-end snaps, however Verstappen can load the entrance axle at turn-in to present it the entrance finish grip it wants with out the rear stepping out of line. Doing so requires exceptional sensitivity, precision, adaptability and the capability to react near-instantaneously to the suggestions from the automobile. It’s the F1 equal of strolling the tightrope. In contrast, Lawson has fallen repeatedly and subsequently driving to a a lot decrease ceiling – therefore his references to the problem of discovering “the candy spot” with this automobile.
This isn’t merely the issue of a automobile developed for Verstappen, who thrives with a robust entrance finish and may management the ensuing rear-end instability most discover too responsive. Whereas such dynamics have the potential for the best efficiency ceiling, this requires astonishing expertise to manage. But with the RB21, Verstappen faces a good more durable problem with a automobile he says “continues to be not the place I would like it to be.” His driving is a fragile type of bullying that’s past most.
So can Tsunoda do what Verstappen does? It’s unlikely, given Verstappen is, at 27, already established as one of many all-time greats and few drivers within the historical past of grand prix racing have his skill. The extra pertinent query is whether or not Tsunoda can approximate the Verstappen approach sufficient to do the job Crimson Bull wants. That’s often framed by the crew as being about three-tenths off and banking common factors – though as a racing driver with unshakable confidence, Tsunoda himself will probably again himself to do excess of that.
There’s a reference level, which is the post-season Abu Dhabi check final 12 months. Tsunoda logged 127 laps within the 2024 Crimson Bull, which was much less a possibility supplied by Crimson Bull and extra one facilitated by energy unit provider Honda, which has backed Tsunoda since his early days in single-seaters. There, Tsunoda claimed to really feel comfy within the automobile and capable of push it to the restrict.
Verstappen’s driving model doesn’t work for a lot of different drivers, however Tsunoda might want to undertake parts of it to have a shot at reaching the RB21’s potential. Clive Mason/Getty Photos
“I believe so — I didn’t actually battle a lot to adapt,” mentioned Tsunoda. “I didn’t have many soiled laps. On the lengthy runs, I’ve been capable of run constantly and immediately felt the restrictions of the automobile, which for those who don’t believe within the automobile, you’ll be able to’t really feel any limitations.”
Though Tsunoda confirmed what he might do, the die had already been solid and Crimson Bull’s determination was made – Lawson was going to interchange Sergio Perez, topic to the payoff being finalized with the Mexican. The willingness to make the swap with Lawson so early within the season confirms that Tsunoda did a superb job in Abu Dhabi.
Tsunoda is unquestionably higher certified for the problem than he would have been a few years in the past and is promoted to Crimson Bull Racing with the form of expertise two of his predecessors, Alex Albon and Pierre Gasly, had. Tsunoda is, by inclination, a late braker. After I requested him about that in November 2023, that is how he described his model:
“Stronger and quick,” mentioned Tsunoda. “The preliminary half is stronger. I’ve by no means seen a driver the place the preliminary half is stronger than me. The releasing half, the later half, he [teammate Ricciardo] is sweet at. I can be taught one thing from that as a driver.”
This was a major part of Tsunoda’s improvement, one which broadened his window. Whereas his unique F1 teammate, Gasly, can also be by inclination a late braker, one who thrives attacking the nook offered that the rear finish is predictable sufficient to present him confidence, Ricciardo confirmed Tsunoda one other method. That’s expanded Tsunoda’s toolkit as a driver and, critically, given him a deeper understanding of the worth of manipulating the automobile’s steadiness utilizing the brakes. To do what Verstappen does, braking late is just not an possibility because it simply means struggling to get the automobile turned. Then you’re restricted on traction while you attempt to feed the ability in because of the additional lock required to get the automobile by way of the remainder of the nook. Tsunoda a minimum of has a grounding in try to obtain this.
The stress is on, however that is probably life-changing alternative for Tsunoda, who can rework himself from useful midfielder to frontrunner. By way of expertise, the timing is true even when it will have been higher to present him a winter and pre-season to organize, however that is the chance he craves to show he can do what Gasly, Albon, Perez and Lawson didn’t do earlier than him.
If Tsunoda delivers, and that doesn’t imply matching Verstappen however merely being a helpful quantity two for Crimson Bull, then this might be a career-making alternative. If not, will probably be a career-breaking one, however a minimum of he’ll have had the belated probability to point out what he can do within the least hospitable seat in F1.
