Tsunoda praised by Red Bull: ‘His mistakes are a thing of the past’

Red Bull are very happy with the results Yuki Tsunoda is achieving with RB to start the F1 2024 season

Yuki Tsunoda is delivering a series of impressive results in his VCARB 01, drawing significant praise from Red Bull. The 23-year-old continues to progress as a driver, combining his raw speed with great maturity and consistency. Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko is very satisfied with Tsunoda’s progress, as he explained after the Japanese GP.

Just over two weeks ago, Yuki Tsunoda went to teammate Daniel Ricciardo’s home turf and executed a very solid weekend. He left Australia’s Albert Park with six points, crossing the line in P8 before a post-race penalty for Alonso promoted him into P7.

This result was particularly impressive in the context of F1’s highly competitive 2024 midfield. With the top five teams comfortably above the bottom five, any points are crucial for a team like VCARB. Therefore, it was critical for the Racing Bulls duo to capitalise on the DNFs in Melbourne and claim points.

Points were even more difficult to come by in Suzuka. The only realistic opening was to claim P10 after Lance Stroll qualified poorly in his Aston Martin. A combination of strong pace and impressive overtakes allowed Tsunoda to take the final point in Japan – his first on home soil.

Yuki Tsunoda earns high praise

Speaking after the race concluded, Helmut Marko expressed his satisfaction at the youngster’s performance:

“Yuki is the first Japanese driver to score here in twelve years. We are very satisfied all around,” he told Sky Germany.

“There have been four races and Yuki has brought the car into Q3 three times.

“He is consistent and the mistakes are now a thing of the past. His lack of control on the radio is also gone.”

RB fast enough to leave a mark

The #22 car is now a regular contender for the top 10 positions, both in qualifying and the race. His worst starting position of 2024 so far was 11th place in Bahrain – still a very strong showing in the VCARB 01.

After four rounds, Tsunoda now has a reasonable amount of points on the board. His efforts also mean that the Racing Bulls are comfortably 6th in the standings – two places higher than they finished last year. Based on their performance to start the season, they could finish the year in this position.

To be clear, the expectations surrounding the Faenza-based team were slightly higher over winter. Even last weekend in Japan, RB’s Alan Permane outlined that beating Aston Martin remains a key objective. Whilst they will likely fall short of this objective, they are still fast enough to fight for points consistently.

As Yuki Tsunoda performs at such a high level, his machinery should be enough to showcase his talents with regular Q3 and top-10 appearances.