Yuki Tsunoda has emphasized that comparing his performance to Max Verstappen’s is unfair unless both drivers have access to identical Red Bull car specifications. Speaking ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix, Tsunoda highlighted how disparities in the RB21’s latest components continue to impact his ability to match Verstappen’s pace, underscoring the challenges of driving a car with uneven upgrades within the same team.
The persistent challenge of measuring performance within Red Bull
Red Bull Racing has long seemed focused on a single lead driver, with Max Verstappen clearly dominating the team as a four-time world champion. Meanwhile, the second seat has often been occupied by drivers who are given limited opportunities to prove their worth before being replaced or demoted. This dynamic has made it difficult to accurately assess anyone’s capabilities when they do not receive the same car specifications, particularly with RB21’s notoriously difficult handling characteristics.
Tsunoda’s path to the Red Bull main team and his struggles
Yuki Tsunoda’s place at Red Bull came following his promotion from the junior Racing Bulls squad after Liam Lawson, previously ahead of him in the Red Bull Junior Team hierarchy, was dropped after only two rounds. Since joining the main team partway through the season, Tsunoda has scored top-10 finishes just three times. His tenure has also included prominent errors, such as a qualifying crash at Imola that damaged a new floor specification for the car.
Recent upgrades and the ongoing gap in car specifications
At the Belgium Grand Prix weekend, Tsunoda received a newer floor spec between the sprint race and qualifying, which helped him achieve a Q3 appearance for the first time since Miami. However, he again finished outside the points, a situation compounded by a strategic communication error when Red Bull failed to call him into the pits for slick tires before he passed the pit entry.
Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies took responsibility for this strategic mishap. Nevertheless, further revelations showed that even the “new” floor Tsunoda used was not on par with Verstappen’s latest spec. Heading into the Hungarian Grand Prix, several parts of Tsunoda’s car, including the front wing, remained outdated compared to Verstappen’s equipment.
Tsunoda comments on challenges and progress
Tsunoda acknowledged the difficulties that come with his current position and equipment.
“Missing the points is not ideal at all,”
he admitted during the Hungarian race weekend. However, he expressed optimism rooted in the collaborative engineering support on his side of the garage:
“But one thing that helps me is definitely, with my engineering side, with my side of the garage, at least we know that there’s clear progress and a clear pace.”
—Yuki Tsunoda, Red Bull Racing Team
The daunting comparison with Verstappen
In Formula 1, drivers commonly face comparisons with their teammates, yet the gap between Tsunoda and Verstappen has remained significant. Red Bull is generally tolerant of a second driver being about three tenths of a second slower per lap than Verstappen. Going beyond that differential raises questions about a driver’s future with the team.
For Tsunoda, the reality of competing against Verstappen — one of F1’s fiercest and most consistent performers — has been a stark contrast to his earlier simulations of the RB21’s handling challenges. Despite this, he still harbors hopes of closing the performance gap, provided the machinery is equalized.
Reflecting on Verstappen’s skill, Tsunoda said:
“You know, how he [Verstappen] always extracts performance consistently every session, every grand prix, is very impressive,”
He added,
“It’s not things that you can do very easily. And it seems like he can. It looks like he does it very easily.”
—Yuki Tsunoda
Yet Tsunoda cautioned against direct comparisons due to his shorter tenure and differing car specs:
“But at the same time, I just don’t think it’s fair to compare. And I don’t want to directly compare with him because he’s been here nine years in that car and I’m just jumping into the car.
And also, I’m not – well, let’s see if I get exactly the same car. Until that point, I can’t compare directly.”
—Yuki Tsunoda
Focus on self-improvement amid uncertain future
Addressing his own development, Tsunoda said he remains concentrated on building his pace gradually:
“But until then, I’m just focused on myself because I know clearly what I can improve and I just progress in my own way, step by step.”
—Yuki Tsunoda
Team principal Mekies, noted for his engineering background and prior work with Tsunoda at Racing Bulls, has appeared more understanding of Tsunoda’s challenges than his predecessor Christian Horner. This could bode well for Tsunoda’s continued growth and support within the Red Bull team.
The road ahead: matching Verstappen’s pace remains formidable
Despite the internal dynamics and hopeful prospects for improved equipment, the question remains whether anyone can realistically challenge Verstappen’s dominance within identical machinery. Tsunoda’s journey illustrates the complexities of competing inside a team where the lead driver has spent nearly a decade mastering the car’s performance limits. Until Tsunoda accesses truly equal car specifications, any direct comparison remains premature.
