Yuki Tsunoda is debuting for Red Bull Racing at this weekend’s Japanese Grand Prix following the controversial decision to drop Liam Lawson just two rounds into the season
Christian Horner said Yuki Tsunoda has made «a positive start» to life as a Red Bull Racing driver. The 24-year-old hit the track in the RB21 for the first time on Friday at the Japanese Grand Prix and did exactly what he has been asked to do – be as close to Max Verstappen as he can in terms of performance.
Tsunoda was sixth on the timesheets at the end of first practice, just one place behind his new team-mate. And his quickest time was just over one tenth of a second slower than the benchmark set by the Dutchman, which has left his new team principal pleased.
«I think that was a positive start for Yuki,» Horner said after that session. «He knows the circuit very well here, and his feedback is very clear, very concise in the car. It’s just the start of his journey with the team and plenty to get into.
«He’s now in his fifth season in Formula 1, so he’s got quite a lot of experience now behind him. He certainly made, in a high-pressure situation, a positive start and he just needs to build on that now through the rest of the weekend.»
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Part of the reason given for the decision to drop Liam Lawson in favour of Tsunoda after just two rounds of the new season was because of Red Bull’s temperamental car. They need to drivers giving useful feedback to help them to develop and make it faster and more compliant.
Tsunoda has four full seasons in F1 under his belt while Lawson was a veteran of only 11 races when he was called up last December. And that, Horner hopes, will make a key difference for his team’s fortunes this season now that the tough decision has been made to swap them around.
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He said: «With hindsight, I think we asked a bit too much, too soon from Liam. We’ve got a lot of work to do with the car and unfortunately, sometimes, I think you’ve got to be cruel to be kind.
«But he’s not out of Formula 1 – he’s gone back to the Racing Bulls – we still believe in him as a talent for the future and making use of Yuki’s experience will hopefully enable the engineers to make faster progress. He brings experience and I think that knowledge is very useful.
«This season is going to be all about a development race and that’s why we took the decision early. I think Liam would have got there, but it would have taken five, six, seven races or half a season – we don’t have that amount of time.
«So, after discussing it internally, we decided, ‘Right, we’ve got to rip the plaster off now and get on with it’. That’s what we chose to do and Yuki has jumped in and done a good job initially.»
