Racing Bulls has insisted that helping Yuki Tsunoda to a Red Bull seat “should be our target” despite the senior Formula 1 team opting to overlook him for the 2025 season.
Although Red Bull elected to drop Sergio Perez amid a torrid campaign, Tsunoda missed out on a coveted promotion and will race with the sister team again this season.
Liam Lawson, who concluded last term as Tsunoda’s team-mate at the Faenza-based squad, has been given the nod instead to replace Perez and partner Max Verstappen.
Explaining the decision, Red Bull pinpointed that it believes Lawson possesses the mental resolve required to thrive in what has become perceived as the toughest gig in F1.
Meanwhile, Tsunoda sustaining his most impressive season to date wasn’t enough to overrule the concern that Red Bull harbours over his consistency and emotional control.
Racing Bulls Racing Director Alan Permane has revealed that contributed to him having similar misconceptions, but working with Tsunoda has since dispelled those thoughts.
“I must admit, I was guilty of that coming in. I don’t know if he’s taken a step up this year because I don’t have anything to compare against,” Permane told Autosport.
“Of course, there are inconsistencies he needs to sharpen up, plenty of areas he needs to polish.
“But he’s what, 24? He’s a young kid, still, so he’s got plenty of time to do that. And he knows what he needs to work on.
“You can hear and see him getting frustrated with himself when he makes those errors but the speed is there, of that there’s no doubt.
“He’s very quick and his feedback is excellent, his English is excellent.
“I don’t know if that has been a limitation in the past but I don’t see any limitation there at all and he’s a joy to work with, he really is.”
Racing Bulls want to help Tsunoda take next step
Permane is adamant Tsunoda should still be aiming to earn a move to Red Bull, an ambition he’s claimed Racing Bulls must support whilst he remains with the team.
“Hopefully, if I can bring him on 1 per cent to help him out I’d be super happy,” he added.
“Nothing would make me happier than to get him to a level where he can move to the top team, into Red Bull.
“Quite rightly that should be his target and it should be our target.
“One of the reasons for this team – and it’s not the only reason anymore – is to develop talent. If we can turn him into a race winner, fantastic.”
How Racing Bulls is developing Tsunoda
Permane pointed out that communicating in a more calm and precise manner with his race engineer is one aspect that Racing Bulls has strived to improve with Tsunoda.
In that regard, he divulged that it took Tsunoda through Verstappen’s remarkable win from 17th on the grid in Brazil to show how to operate in adverse circumstances.
“When he gets frustrated he then gets frustrated at himself for getting frustrated,” Permane added. “He knows it and he’s working hard on that.
“I said: ‘Listen to Oscar [Piastri] on the radio.’ He’s in his second year and he never gets flustered or anything like that. And he’s clearly very quick.
“You rarely hear Lando [Norris] getting frustrated, and that’s the level you need to get to.
“One of the things we did was playback the Brazil race, a massively intense situation, and Max and his engineer are just like they’re having a cup of coffee in the afternoon together.
“That’s the benchmark and all that information is out there for these guys to work on, and that’s one of the areas we’re working on with him.
“There are hundreds of things they need to do and that’s just one small area. But he’s right in spotting that when things aren’t going well he just needs to come in and download.”
READ MORE – Exclusive: Yuki Tsunoda details how he has evolved from his rookie F1 season
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