Yuki Tsunoda’s Unfazed Attitude to Possible Red Bull Promotion Puts Him Ahead of Under-Pressure Daniel Ricciardo

Yuki Tsunoda’s performances with RB so far this season make him a solid contender for promotion to parent team Red Bull. While Tsunoda remains unfazed by this, his teammate Daniel Ricciardo appears to be feeling the pressure.

Tsunoda’s mantra is to focus on the task at hand – to perform as well as possible for RB and secure his F1 future. He told Racing News 365,

“I don’t actually worry about things like that. I do what I have to do and if I can join Red Bull that won’t change anything. I am not worried about any change in my environment.”

Ricciardo on the other hand, has been bogged down by the need to impress Red Bull’s top brass to grant him a seat at the Milton-Keynes-based outfit. It has caused problems for the honey badger, who hasn’t been anywhere close to his actual best so far this campaign.

Plus, Ricciardo himself admitted that the pressure got to him. Naturally, he was not able to deliver the kind of performance that could have convinced Red Bull to replace a struggling Sergio Perez with him.

Ricciardo may be facing the end of the road

After a difficult start to the campaign, Ricciardo returned to good form in the last few weeks heading into the summer break. In fact, it was reported that Red Bull would replace Perez with him after the Belgian GP. Unfortunately for the Aussie, that didn’t materialize.

That being said, Helmut Marko has hinted at a potential reshuffle at the end of the season. It does keep an opportunity open for Ricciardo but also adds immense pressure on his shoulders.

Ricciardo has to outperform Tsunoda to be Red Bull’s preference. But that’s not all. Junior driver Liam Lawson has been waiting on the sidelines for a long time, and if neither RB driver impresses, Marko and Co. could turn to the New Zealander.