Racing Bulls’ Yuki Tsunoda revealed that his Red Bull snub at the end of the 2024 Formula 1 season was not about “performance”.
Tsunoda’s 2024 team-mates at the Red Bull sister outfit, Daniel Ricciardo and later Liam Lawson always appeared to be ahead of him in the queue of potential Sergio Perez replacements.
That came true when Lawson was given the nod to replace Perez for this season, despite having only 11 GP starts to Tsunoda’s four years of F1 experience.
Tsunoda acknowledged that the decision hasn’t negatively impacted his relationship with Lawson, someone he has grown up racing with, but revealed that Red Bull’s choice wasn’t purely down to raw speed.
“I wouldn’t say happy for him as that would be a lie, but he definitely did what he [had] to do,” Tsunoda told select media including Motorsport Week.
“He did the best and gave 100% performance and I gave 100% performance and in the end, it was up to Red Bull how to do it but it is not necessarily a massive feeling, it is what it is.
“In terms of friendship, we’re still friends for sure and we still chat to each other and I talk to him, we were team-mates in [junior] categories.”
Red Bull gave Tsunoda 30 minutes notice before announcing Lawson
Tsunoda added that he was given short notice of Red Bull’s final decision and was given some criteria behind the choice.
“In the end, they told me they chose Liam like 30 minutes before the announcement, and to be honest, I didn’t really dig into the reasons why,” he said.
“I was kind of prepared already and I didn’t take the impression from them that they chose [Liam] because of the performance, but I sense that people had something they wanted to do in terms of the mood.
“But they did mention one thing that it was not really coming from performance, but at the same time, they clearly said that: ‘Anything can happen in this world’, and you saw last year what happened, so I just need to keep doing what I am.
“From Helmut [Marko] as well, because of his personality, I got clear direction that it is good to be a driver in a leadership position to develop yourself, that was the direction I got.”
Tsunoda shows positive early signs in leadership role
Remaining with Racing Bulls for a fifth season and taking on the mantle of team leader is having a positive early effect for Tsunoda.
During Friday’s second practice session at the Australian Grand Prix, Tsunoda posted the fourth fastest time and his rookie team-mate Isack Hadjar went sixth fastest, ahead of both Red Bull drivers.
“Well, obviously it’s a good start, for the first day,” Tsunoda said.
“I’m sure other teams will pick up the pace tomorrow, in qualifying especially. It definitely looks good.
“Inside the car, there’s not that much huge, I would say, outstanding [with] the balance and whatever.
“A happy day in the office, but obviously we just have to definitely keep focused and keep digging [out] the performance.”
Tsunoda’s influence was noted by Hadjar who was buoyant after his first day of practice as a GP driver.
“To be fair, after the first lap I was really comfortable in the car in FP1,” he said.
“Foot to the floor and we just went step by step. Obviously, it’s really nice to have Yuki alongside me to compare and progress quite fast as well.
“I don’t know how the other teams are going to react tomorrow, but the most important is that I feel comfy.
“I was surprised with more my own performance than the car. In FP1 I was straight on the pace and I just felt comfortable on the long run and the short run.”
READ MORE – Exclusive: How improved emotional control helped Yuki Tsunoda process Red Bull F1 omission
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