Double world champion Max Verstappen seems to be in the form of his life as he has already won six of the opening eight F1 races this season. The only driver that has defeated him so far this season is his Red Bull teammate, Sergio Perez.
However, following a recent event, it seems that Verstappen has some tough competition to fend off. AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda stepped up to the challenge by defeating the 25-year-old in a recently held Mega Trucks race.
Even though Tsunoda defeated Verstappen, it was not fair and square. This is because the Japanese driver had to use some dirty tactics to get the better of the Dutchman.
“I put a bit of water“: Yuki Tsunoda reveals his strategy to beat Max Verstappen
In the warm up leading up to this weekend’s Austrian Grand Prix, Max Verstappen and Yuki Tsunoda competed in a Mega Trucks race. In this event, both drivers raced each other (as quoted by scuderia.alphatauri.com) using “three-meter tall, five-meter long, 500 horsepower mega trucks“.
Since this was the first time that Verstappen and Tsunoda were competing in an offroad race, it was a unique challenge for both of them. However, despite not having previous experience in this form of racing, Verstappen was flying in the earlier parts as he set a qualifying lap time that was three seconds faster than Tsunoda.
Seemingly miffed by Verstappen’s pace, Tsunoda used some dirty tactics to defeat him during the main race. As revealed by him after the race, the Japanese driver said, “Unfortunately, he (Verstappen) had a bit of misfiring…well actually I put a bit of water into his engine, but don’t tell anyone!”
On hearing Tsunoda’s strategy, a defeated Verstappen could simply state, “That explains it (his lack of pace)“. With the Japanese driver having defeated Verstappen in the Mega Trucks race, he keeps his first place in the first Unserious Race Series. Tsunoda previously also defeated Red Bull reserve driver Daniel Ricciardo in a mini jet boat race.
Will Tsunoda replace Perez at Red Bull?
As Max Verstappen’s Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez continues to underperform this season, his place in the team has come under immense scrutiny. Several reports have emerged as per which Red Bull have issued warnings to the Mexican to up his game if he is keen on keeping his seat.
Rumors have emerged that if Perez fails to rediscover his form, Red Bull could consider replacing him with AlphaTauri star Yuki Tsunoda. The Japanese driver has had some impressive performances for Red Bull’s junior team, AlphaTauri, and has also caught the eye of Christian Horner.
Horner recently stated in an interview that while Tsunoda was not at their level yet, there is a chance that they could offer him a seat in the future. While Horner did not make any decisive statement about Perez’s future, it does seem that Red Bull are having serious discussions about their driver line-up for next season.
