Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner has not ruled out Yuki Tsunoda being considered a potential choice to replace the under-pressure Sergio Perez in Formula 1.
Despite penning a multi-term contract extension last month, Perez’s disastrous recent run has triggered speculation that Red Bull could be weighing up replacements.
The Mexican has accrued 15 points in the last six rounds to languish 137 points behind team-mate Max Verstappen amid rumours his deal has performance clauses.
Daniel Ricciardo’s experience in the parent Red Bull set-up has stood him out as the most obvious candidate, but he has struggled to produce consistent results at RB.
But while Tsunoda has had a strong season in the sister car to reside 11 points ahead, Red Bull has been unenamoured about the prospect of him next to Verstappen.
Asked whether Tsunoda could be in line to graduate to the senior Red Bull set-up down the line, Horner answered at Silverstone: “You can never rule anything out.
“We have options for multiple years on him because we believe he’s a talent.”
Tsunoda has never been granted a test in a Red Bull car like Ricciardo was at Silverstone last summer or Lawson, who will drive the RB20 at the venue later this week.
Pressed to explain the reason behind Tsunoda not being afforded similar opportunities, Horner said: He’s a Red Bull Racing driver. He’s on a Red Bull Racing contract.
“You never know. Maybe he’ll get a test one day. You never know.”
Horner also contends that the Japanese driver’s improvement this term has derived from observing Ricciardo up close and drawing upon his team-mate’s experience.
“I think Yuki’s doing a good job,” Horner expressed. “He got another point, he’s stringing weekends together, he’s doing a good job.
“I think he’s benefited from having Daniel alongside him.
“He’ll openly admit that he’s learned from Daniel, in terms of having an experienced driver and how they interact with the team and the engineers.
“Yuki’s not a rookie anymore. He’s got quite a lot of experience now under his belt, and you can see he’s putting that to good use.
“And in difficult conditions like today, I thought he drove a very good race.”
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