If there’s one team on the grid that is certain about having an undisputed number one driver, it’s Red Bull. Max Verstappen has been their main man for years—and rightly so. For his teammate Yuki Tsunoda, the most important thing, aside from scoring good points, will be to support Verstappen in securing victories.
This isn’t a new dynamic. Ever since Daniel Ricciardo left in 2019, all of Verstappen’s teammates—Pierre Gasly, Alex Albon, Sergio Perez, and later Liam Lawson—have filled the second seat to play second fiddle to the Dutchman. Now, it’s Tsunoda’s responsibility to be a competent number two. And with Red Bull’s RB21 no longer the fastest car on the grid, they’ll need the Japanese driver’s support more than ever.
Today’s race in Saudi Arabia could be the ultimate test for Tsunoda in this regard, as Red Bull might well choose to sacrifice his race to give pole-sitter Verstappen the best possible chance to gain points over his rivals.
Max Verstappen stormed to pole at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit
Ride onboard to experience his @pirellisport pole position lap for yourself! #F1 #SaudiArabianGP pic.twitter.com/hr5mau2RPH
— Formula 1 (@F1) April 19, 2025
Championship leader Lando Norris is set to start P10 following his crash in Q3 yesterday, and Tsunoda will lineup right in front of him, in eighth. Experts on the F1: Chequered Flag podcast are certain that Tsunoda will be asked to defend hard, like Kevin Magnussen did for Haas at the same circuit last year.
“I’m looking at that grid and I’m really wondering what do Red Bull do with Yuki Tsunoda? Because they know that Norris could be a bit of a threat that could potentially come to the end of the race,” Sam Bird said.
He then added that Red Bull can “potentially kind of throw Tsunoda under the bus to make sure that he holds Norris back, to stop Norris maximizing his race“. That is when Harry Benjamin stepped in and explained how Tsunoda could pull off a Magnussen to help Verstappen.
“This is what I’m thinking, because you can do that around this circuit, and Kevin Magnussen did it brilliantly. It’s single file in sector one,” Benjamin explained. “If Yuki Tsunoda wanted, he could drive two, three, four seconds a lap off the pace in sector one to make sure that Norris is not in the fight come the end of the race“.
Magnussen, at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit in 2024, wasn’t in contention for points himself. But his teammate Nico Hulkenberg was—which is why the Dane put everything on the line to get him into the top 10. He drove incredibly slowly in certain parts of the circuit and made some risky defensive maneuvers, which earned him two 10-second penalties.
More bad news for Kevin Magnussen
He’s picked up another 10-second penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage in a fight for P12 with Tsunoda #F1 #SaudiArabianGP
— Formula 1 (@F1) March 9, 2024
Hulkenberg eventually finished P10. A brilliant effort by Magnussen.
However, this wasn’t the only time Magnussen played the team game. He did so again during the Miami GP sprint race, when he picked up four separate penalties for aggressive defensive driving. His tactics prevented Lewis Hamilton from overtaking him and helped Hulkenberg score another crucial point for Haas by finishing P8 in the sprint.
If Tsunoda can pull off something similar for Red Bull against Norris, the McLaren driver’s weekend could go from bad to worse.
Should Norris fail to recover during the race, his championship hopes may take a serious hit. He currently holds a slender three-point lead over teammate Oscar Piastri, who starts from P2. Right behind him on pole is Verstappen—just eight points behind Norris in the standings.
Depending on how the race unfolds for Piastri and Verstappen, both have a strong chance of overtaking Norris in the standings if the Briton can’t produce a solid recovery drive to limit the damage.
