“A Big Step When I Compare to Daniel”: Yuki Tsunoda Reveals One Trait He Lacks Against Ricciardo

Yuki Tsunoda has been the better driver at V-CARB this season by consistently delivering solid results, and outscoring his more experienced teammate — Daniel Ricciardo. With 22 of the team’s 34 points credited to his name, Tsunoda has shown remarkable growth in his fourth season with the team.

However, the Japanese driver admits there’s one area where Ricciardo still holds an advantage over him: communication. In an exclusive with Autosport, Tsunoda recently spoke about his development as a driver. While he admits that his on-track performance has improved, his style of communication — particularly during radio exchanges — has been a challenge.

In the past, he noted that his emotional control was not as strong as it needed to be, in stark contrast to his Aussie teammate. The 24-year-old pointed out that controlling emotions and maintaining clear communication are crucial for any driver who wants to land in a top team like Red Bull.

“When I look from an outside perspective, previously, even [though] my one lap or performance or my driving was okay, I think the radio communications, emotional control was lacking quite a lot – a big step when I compare to Daniel, for example,” Tsunoda told Autosport.

“If you want to go to a top team, those things will be very important because top teams are expecting a more complete driver.”, the 24-year-old said.

This could potentially be one of the reasons why Red Bull was favoring Ricciardo over Tsunoda, when it came to a promotion before finally deciding to stick with Sergio Perez for the rest of the 2024 season. Still, Tsunoda is keen on making his way up the grid.

Tsunoda aims to beat all the top drivers including the world champion

Although Tsunoda is one of the favorites of Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko, he acknowledges that the 24-year-old needs to impress more than just Marko to earn a promotion to the main Red Bull team. Tsunoda understands that consistent performance is crucial to winning over other important voices within the organization.

“They know my performance and they are happy with my performance,” Tsunoda said, referring to Red Bull’s decision to extend his contract with VCARB. “I just have to keep performing, keep making them happy consistently, and, hopefully, things will come naturally.”

While Tsunoda admits that he needs to keep improving, he also believes that he is now ready to compete with the top drivers at the front of the grid including the reigning world champion Max Verstappen.