Red Bull has never made a secret of it: the summer break will be crucial to understand the future of the seat next to Max Verstappen because, despite having a contract for next year as well, Sergio Perez’s place within the team is still up in the air.
Behind the scenes, the team’s top brass are watching the Mexican’s performances, who is coming off a complex period of mistakes and performances that are too inconsistent to guarantee certainties in a fight for the constructors’ championship that is more lively than ever against a McLaren that is on the rise. For this reason, Red Bull is looking around and, in recent days, the name of Daniel Ricciardo from Racing Bulls has intensified as one of the possible options to replace Perez after the break.
All this behind-the-scenes movement has clearly also involved Yuki Tsunoda, who has made it clear several times that he feels ready for the jump to the world’s leading team Red Bull after 3 and a half seasons spent between AlphaTauri and Racing Bulls. Last week, the Japanese driver had already disliked the rumours that Liam Lawson was also one of the alternatives to the Mexican and, even on the eve of the Belgian event, the last stop before the summer break, Tsunoda reiterated how he has already done everything possible to show Horner and Marko that he deserves a step up in level.
Yuki Tsunoda, Visa Cash App RB F1 Team
Foto di: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images
“I did what I had to do and I am happy with my performance, with what I have done so far. And what more should I do?”, explained the Japanese driver during Thursday at Spa, before adding that the focus must remain only on performance, because that is his strong point in trying to convince Red Bull.
“It’s also quite clear how many points I got compared to the other drivers, so… So yes, I’m happy with what I did. I can only control my own performance, but I can’t control the decisions of others. So, I just focus on the things I can control, which is the performance.”
Tsunoda explained that the last conversation he had with Marko was in Austria, when the Red Bull consultant explained to him that the following races would be very important for the future. However, since then the Japanese has not had the chance to speak with Horner or Marko, remaining waiting to understand what future decisions will be. From his point of view, however, it is clear that what he has done in this first championship is enough to guarantee him a seat that he feels he deserves.
Yuki Tsunoda, Visa Cash App RB F1 Team, speaks with Christian Horner, Team Principal of Red Bull Racing and Red Bull GmbH co-owner Mark Mateschitz.
Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
“As a driver, there are a couple of races where I could have done better, for example Montreal (where he made a mistake while in the points). I was in the top 10 and I lost points with my hands. But apart from that, just compare the Q3 appearances and the qualifying and race results, they speak for themselves,” Tsunoda added before explaining how, in his opinion, there are other factors that come into play in Red Bull’s decisions.
“It seems like there are other factors as well. Obviously, because they are also considering other riders depending on what you hear from the rumours. But if you just look at the performance, then the situation is quite clear, that I am the one who is going fastest. Even taking into consideration all the riders in the midfield”.
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