Yuki Tsunoda is finally getting to live his dream of driving for Red Bull, but his start for the Milton Keynes-based outfit has been harder than he had anticipated. After driving the RB21 on the simulator, the Japanese driver claimed that the car is not as difficult to drive as most of his predecessors and experts had claimed.
He seemingly proved his point during FP1 by registering a lap time that was just a tenth shy of Max Verstappen’s. Red Bull team principal Christian Horner also acknowledged that Tsunoda drove some strong laps in FP1 despite having the same engine mode as the four-time champion.
However, come FP2, Tsunoda struggled. The 24-year-old did not really manage to set a lap time as he believes he still has work to do to get the confidence in driving the RB21. “FP1 was better than expected. A good start for myself, and FP2, I didn’t set a lap time,” he said in his interview after FP2.
“I think a lot of work to do. Slightly struggled, or something that we need to look through in the data. So far it’s okay. Just have to build up some confidence more”, he added. So, can it be said that Liam Lawson wasn’t the problem?
Firstly, Tsunoda is vastly more experienced than the Kiwi driver, with 89 race starts to his name. So, it is likely that he will familiarize himself with the car’s quirks and adapt quickly. Even if he doesn’t, Red Bull are willing to be more patient with him, which is an advantage he has relative to Lawson, who was dropped after just two race weekends.
Yuki Tsunoda is only 0.1 seconds off Max Verstappen after FP1 #JapaneseGP pic.twitter.com/QhhEwy2Rft
— Autosport (@autosport) April 4, 2025
Helmut Marko has already confirmed that the Japanese driver will have the rest of the 2025 season to showcase his potential. The reason for this was given by Horner on Friday in Suzuka, stating that they didn’t believe Lawson was going to improve before half the season was over. On the contrary, Tsunoda’s experience can help him do so.
That said, Tsunoda is getting the rude awakening that the RB21 is much harder to drive in real life compared to the simulator. “He [Tsunoda] also acknowledged that the car is more complicated in real life than in the simulator,” F1 journalist Julianne Cerasoli reported.
While Tsunoda will obviously need time to adapt to the RB21—with him not having had any sort of pre-season testing—the concern for Red Bull is that Verstappen was not happy with the car either. So, more than the drivers, the team needs to work on their car.
Verstappen reflects on “difficult” Japanese GP practice sessions
Verstappen’s biggest strength is arguably his confidence. No matter how tricky the conditions or the track, he manages to find a way to be competitive. However, so far in Japan, the Dutchman believes his struggles have been such that he has not been able to find the confidence he needs to push the limits on a track as difficult as Suzuka.
“It was quite a difficult day today,” he said. “We tried a lot, but it didn’t really come together yet. You need a lot of confidence and commitment here, but at the moment I don’t feel that yet”.
Max Verstappen after FP2: “It was quite a difficult day today. We tried a lot, but it didn’t really come together yet. You need a lot of confidence and commitment here, but at the moment I don’t feel that yet.”
[@ErikvHaren] pic.twitter.com/vLdSSsCcrC
— RBR Daily (@RBR_Daily) April 4, 2025
With a driver as good as Verstappen repeatedly pointing out how difficult it is to drive the RB21, it just highlights the work Red Bull needs to do to become more competitive. With a practice session still remaining before qualifying on Saturday, the team will look to get as much data as they can to make crucial tweaks to the car that can help them gain more performance.
