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

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.

Post Edited By: Somin Bhattacharjee
Daniel Ricciardo RB Red Bull Yuki Tsunoda

About the author

Anirban Aly Mandal

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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