Yuki Tsunoda revealed he resisted attempting a “hero” overtake on Liam Lawson in the latter stages of Formula 1‘s Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
The Japanese driver came home sixth in Baku, his best result to date since replacing the Kiwi at the Milton Keynes-based squad in April.
Tsunoda has struggled to assert himself with the RB21 alongside Max Verstappen, managing a handful of points up until last weekend.
Capitalising on the chaotic qualifying session, Tsunoda managed sixth place, and although a whole second off Verstappen’s pole position lap, it presented a huge opportunity.
And that was what he took, holding firm throughout and cementing his position, and placing Lawson under extreme pressure in the closing stages.
With rumours of a supposed showdown between the two for a Racing Bulls seat next year – with speculation Isack Hadjar will take the the second Red Bull seat – it felt as if the battle had extra edge.
With Lawson re-emerging onto the track from a tyre stop, Tsunoda placed him under extreme pressure, Lawson weaving to warm up his cold tyres.
Lawson managed to hold on, leading a small DRS trains of Tsunoda, Lando Norris and Lewis Hamilton behind to take a career-best fifth spot.
Staying ahead of Norris and not fighting Lawson a priority for Red Bull – Tsunoda
Speaking after the race, Tsunoda revealed that he wanted to make a daring manoeuvre on his supposed rival, but held off, fearing it would cost him what was already an impressive result.
“If I had been able to rejoin two metres faster, probably I would have been able to keep Liam behind,” Tsunoda explained.
“I’m happy with the fantastic job with the strategy, and something I was able to improve into this week was the long run, which was massive, and I was also internally supported by the team to make changes to the car, which affected the long runs, which was good.
“I couldn’t do some aggressive manoeuvre and lose position to Lando, it matters for Red Bull as a team being ahead of McLaren.”
The result will be a huge boost to Tsunoda, as he has just a handful of races left to prove himself, with Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko recently stating that November would be when the team will make its decision on who partners Verstappen in 2026.
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