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“One Swallow Doesn’t Make a Summer”: For Helmut Marko, Yuki Tsunoda Needs to Do Much More Before Red Bull Shot

Anirban Aly Mandal
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“One Swallow Doesn’t Make a Summer”: For Helmut Marko, Yuki Tsunoda Needs to Do Much More Before Red Bull Shot

Yuki Tsunoda impressed many during the 2024 Australian GP as he earned four crucial points for his Visa Cash App RB (V-CARB) team with a P8 finish at the Albert Park street circuit. Throughout the 58-lap Grand Prix, the young Japanese driver looked in complete control and even got in the good books of Red Bull team advisor Helmut Marko. However, despite Tsunoda’s stellar drive in Melbourne, Marko is still reluctant to include the 23-year-old in contention for the second Red Bull seat just yet.

Motorsport-Total (as quoted by Junaid Samodien on X (formerly Twitter)) quoted the Austrian as saying, “Sure, because here he (Tsunoda) was competitive every lap and didn’t do anything wrong, was calm. But as we say: one swallow doesn’t make a summer“.

The second seat at Red Bull could be up for grabs in 2025 as Sergio Perez, whose contract expires at the end of this year, hasn’t been the most consistent when compared to teammate, Max Verstappen. Although Red Bull have made no decision about whether they will extend Perez’s current deal or not, Marko isn’t keen on including Tsunoda on the list of potential candidates for that second seat on the team just yet.

Meanwhile, the other drivers who are in contention for that second Red Bull seat are Tsunoda’s V-CARB teammate, Daniel Ricciardo, and current Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz, who will leave the team at the end of the 2024 season. After Sainz’s brilliant win at the Australian GP, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has confirmed that the Spaniard is a potential candidate.

Among all the drivers in contention for that second Red Bull seat, the team would most likely make a decision between Sainz and Perez. Meanwhile, Red Bull are likely to rate Tsunoda higher than Ricciardo based on current form.

Yuki Tsunoda is piling up the pressure on Daniel Ricciardo

Yuki Tsunoda seems to have the upper hand over Daniel Ricciardo after the first three races of the 2024 season. Hence, even if the Red Bull seat may still elude the Japanese driver next year, he would most likely still be a V-CARB driver in 2025.

However, the same cannot be said about Ricciardo because of his lack of form. Moreover, with Liam Lawson having impressed the paddock with his cameo last year, Ricciardo’s spot could be under serious threat.

When it comes to the most recent race in Australia, Ricciardo finished a lap-down. On the contrary, Tsunoda went on to secure points for the team with a fantastic P8 finish. Hence, the pressure is now undoubtedly on Ricciardo to pull his socks up if he wants to have any chance of still being in contention for that second Red Bull seat in 2025.

Post Edited By:Vidit Dhawan

About the author

Anirban Aly Mandal

Anirban Aly Mandal

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Anirban Aly Mandal is an F1 writer at The SportsRush, with over 1000 articles under his belt, Anirban's love for F1 started when he discovered a copy of F1 2014 on his computer. With over half a decade's worth of time spent religiously following the sport, he’s dived deep into the world of motorsports. However, Anirban's expertise goes beyond just writing - he has also written several academic papers focused on the domain of motorsports and the law. His passion for the sport is so immense that he aspires to work as a legal advisor in the most prestigious racing series in the world someday. When it comes to Formula 1, Anirban finds great pleasure in re-watching classic races and idolizes the likes of Ayrton Senna, Nigel Mansell, and Sebastian Vettel. His top picks include Brazil '91, Silverstone '92, and Germany '19. Outside of the sport, Anirban is an avid sim racer, often found racing on titles like Assetto Corsa, F1 22, and Automobilista. Apart from his interests in gaming, Anirban has a keen interest in philosophy, literature and music.

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