Yuki Tsunoda’s Consistency Surpasses Sergio Perez’s as Debate Around Red Bull Seat Grows

Yuki Tsunoda (L) and Sergio Perez (R)

Sergio Perez’s horror 2024 season continued last weekend at the Las Vegas GP. Suffering his sixth Q1 exit, the #11 driver all but confirmed Red Bull’s elimination from the Constructors’ title battle against the likes of McLaren and Ferrari.

After the race, speculation only grew about Perez’s future with the Bulls and a possible replacement for him next season. Amid this, a statistic has emerged that makes a compelling case for Yuki Tsunoda to be placed alongside Max Verstappen in the RB21 in 2025.

While there are many contenders for Perez’s seat next year, Tsunoda seems to trump them all in terms of experience and performance. Over the last five races, while Perez has only been able to muster an average grid position of 14, the young Japanese driver averages at a stellar P8.

This trend has continued since the summer break. Bear in mind, though, that the RB car that Tsunoda has been outperforming Perez with is massively disadvantaged as against a Red Bull in terms of out-and-out performance.

That said, Red Bull are yet to make a concrete decision about their driver lineup yet. Team advisor, Helmut Marko, whilst acknowledging Perez’s dwindling form revealed that a final call will be made after the season finale at the Abu Dhabi GP.

Tsunoda blames politics for Red Bull snub

It seems that for the last two years, the Milton Keynes-based outfit have been overlooking the #22 driver for a seat at the main team. Tsunoda himself believes that he has done everything required to get that shot.

PlanetF1 quoted him as saying, “I’m sure if I’m in the seat, I can fight for a higher Constructors’ Championship [position] and what they want. But, other things, politics things. They decide what they want.”

Despite sitting only P8 in the drivers’ championship, it looks like Perez will be retained by the team for one more year. It is being suggested in the paddock that the sponsorship money the Mexican driver brings to the team is too much to ignore for the Bulls.

However, how long can the team jeopardize their title ambitions over sponsorship revenue?

Post Edited By: Aishwary Gaonkar
RB Red Bull Sergio Perez 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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