Helmut Marko asserts Yuki Tsunoda must continue to “improve more” to be considered for a Red Bull Formula 1 promotion despite an impressive Australian Grand Prix.
Tsunoda has out-qualified his established team-mate Daniel Ricciardo in each of the three rounds this season, which included securing eighth on the grid in Melbourne.
While the Japanese driver was powerless to prevent the Aston Martin drivers from coming through, Tsunoda capitalised on Fernando Alonso’s time drop to take seventh.
Tsunoda’s standout showing came amid criticism from Marko ahead of the weekend when he declared that the two RB drivers were “too slow” when it came to race pace.
But while Tsunoda has outlined that a drive with the senior Red Bull team is his main ambition, Marko has clarified that he wants to see further progress from the RB racer.
“Every lap he was competitive and didn’t do anything wrong, he was calm,” the Red Bull motorsport advisor said regarding Tsunoda’s performance at the Albert Park Circuit.
When asked whether weekends like Australia will aid Tsunoda’s prospects of replacing Sergio Perez in 2025, he warned: “As we say, one swallow does not make a summer.
“So, he has to improve more before he can be considered in this direction.”
Haas brought home both cars inside the top 10, but Tsunoda’s six-point haul elevated the rebranded RB squad to sneak into sixth in the Constructors’ Championship.
“Yuki executed a fast and well-controlled race to top the whole midfield group and got us our first points of the season,” RB Team Principal Laurent Mekies added.
“He did not put a foot wrong all weekend, and with calm and determination got faster session after session.”
Tsunoda has credited his strong beginning to the season to RB’s 2024 car providing a more consistent platform than its uncompetitive predecessor 12 months ago.
“Every race week I’m just resetting myself, at each track we perform a little bit differently,” Tsunoda explained.
“But actually, the good thing is our car is pretty consistent in terms of performance, that we didn’t have last year. We were kind of up and down last year, so that’s one of the strengths.
“It was frustrating the last two races. A couple of situations happened and there was an opportunity that we could score points, and we lost it.
“We knew that we needed a clean race and I think we achieved it. We didn’t have any mistake. That’s very important for me and for a team to have a good confidence for upcoming races.”
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