In the past two seasons, Yuki Tsunoda has shown with his on-track performances that he deserves a seat at the main Red Bull team. However, his lack of consistency and aggressiveness towards his own team have hindered his chances of gaining that promotion. In 2024, the Japanese racing driver was in fact given a seminar by his team RB on how to tone himself down on the team radio by using Max Verstappen as an example.
Speaking on The Race’s F1 podcast, Jonathan Noble revealed, “One of the things they [RB] did with Yuki was they sat down and they watched Max Verstappen’s on-board from Brazil. You know very, very tricky race [and] how did Max interact with GP [Gianpiero Lambiase, his engineer] — the calmness amid the world of chaos.”
Noble went on to explain that the team wanted to show Tsunoda the calm demeanor by which Verstappen operated throughout the race. With the championship on the line and a P17 starting position on the grid, the Dutchman mastered his emotions and the conditions at the Interlagos circuit to come home as the winner.
While the #1 driver held his nerves at the right moment to taste victory, Tsunoda has lost his cool on more than one occasion. The 2024 season opener in Bahrain proved to be a classic case in point. After the Faenza outfit asked the Japanese driver to let his teammate Daniel Ricciardo pass, he couldn’t control his emotions.
After expressing his anger on the team radio, Tsunoda made an aggressive lunge on the cooldown lap which even infuriated Ricciardo. While the duo sorted things out later, Tsunoda’s image as a hot-headed individual did not help his cause in the broader scheme of things.
Red Bull already had doubts about the 24-year-old’s maturity and ability to withstand pressure against a champion like Verstappen. While he improved on his demeanor throughout the season, it was perhaps too late. Despite sacking Sergio Perez after the 2024 season ended, the Bulls chose to replace the #11 driver with Liam Lawson instead of Tsunoda.
Tsunoda lost his Red Bull chance due to erratic behavior
Red Bull team principal Christian Horner gave a pretty straightforward response about why they promoted Lawson ahead of Tsunoda for the 2025 season. The Briton cited Tsunoda’s lack of composure as the driving factor behind the decision.
Thomas Maher quoted Horner as saying, “At this juncture in time, we believe that Liam has got the right characteristics, the right strength of character to deal with the pressure that comes with being Max Verstappen’s teammate.”
Christian Horner on why Yuki Tsunoda wasn’t picked for RBR: “At this juncture in time, we believe that Liam has got the right characteristics, the right strength of character to deal with the pressure that comes with being Max Verstappen’s teammate.” #F1
— Thomas Maher (@thomasmaheronf1) December 19, 2024
That said, whilst Verstappen’s Sao Paulo GP radio came as a lesson for Tsunoda, the #1 driver’s Hungarian GP radio rants, where the Dutchman berated his engineer and team, come to absolve the Japanese driver Red Bull’s claims.
It is a fact that no driver is ever really in control of their emotions and the team radio comms are the place where they spill out in the cockpit.
