Yuki Tsunoda didn’t find the Red Bull RB21 “challenging to drive” during sessions on the Milton Keynes-based Formula 1 outfit’s simulator.
Red Bull has swapped Tsunoda with Liam Lawson ahead of this weekend’s Japanese Grand Prix, feeling the former’s experience is better suited for the senior outfit and developing its tricky RB21.
Lawson simply couldn’t find the operating window on the RB21, and Red Bull has moved quickly to remedy its situation.
It’s hoped Tsunoda will succeed where Lawson couldn’t, and the Japanese driver appears confident ahead of his Red Bull debut.
Having already told select media, including Motorsport Week in Shanghai he had no trouble adapting to the Red Bull RB20 during the Abu Dhabi post-season test, Tsunoda has revealed positive first impressions of the RB21 in the simulator.
“I spent about two days in the simulator,” Tsunoda said (via Motorsport.com) during an event at Honda’s Aoyama headquarters.
“From that experience, I didn’t find the car to be that challenging to drive.
“I definitely got the impression that the front end is very responsive, as people often say.
“But if you ask whether it felt tricky to handle, I wouldn’t say it gave me a particularly strange feeling, at least in the simulator.”
Tsunoda keen to ‘get up to speed’ in Japan
Tsuoda’s admission of “at least in the simulator” is of paramount importance.
The current generation of F1 cars doesn’t necessarily correlate with sim-data, so getting a read on-track is vital for Tsunoda’s progression.
“Of course, how I want to set up the car is probably different from Max [Verstappen],” Tsunoda explained.
“I want to develop my own car setup, get a good understanding of it and gradually get up to speed from FP1.”
Tsunoda has just days until he rolls out on track at Suzuka to embark on his journey of “understanding.”
Red Bull senior advisor Helmut Marko has also talked up Tsunoda’s sim-run, saying: We gave him two or three simulator sessions, and those were very good.
“Also, his technical feedback, something he had been criticised for in the past, was very solid.”
Strong technical feedback was another thing that came out of Tsunoda’s post-season test with Abu Dhabi.
Racing Bulls CEO told Motorsport Week during pre-season testing in Bahrain that he’d heard only positive things from the senior outfit with regards to Tsunoda.
“Feedback to the engineers, that’s the one thing where he certainly has made a big step compared to the beginning of last year to now,” Bayer said.
“It’s more structured, it’s spot on, he’s giving them accurate feedback to make sure the car is going faster.
“I remember when he did the test with Red Bull Racing, it was confirmed by the Red Bull Racing engineers, who said, ‘honestly, the feedback from Yuki was excellent,’ there was absolutely nothing to criticise.”
READ MORE – Yuki Tsunoda embracing Red Bull pressure amid bold target for F1 Japanese GP
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