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According to Max Verstappen's teammate Yuki Tsunoda, the Dutchman is more sensitive to understanding how to drive the RB21, Red Bull Racing's 2025 car, which has proven to be challenging this past season. According to Tsunoda, his teammate has a better grasp of what the car requires, as well as adapting during the qualifying sessions to achieve the maximum performance. Speaking during the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix that took place last weekend, the Japanese driver admits to not having the same sensibilities as the four-time world champion.
The Red Bull Racing driver used the specific example of the qualifying session at the Japanese Grand Prix earlier in the season, where Verstappen was able to get the car into pole position and eventually win the race that weekend. He said [via Pit Debrief]:
“I think it’s like he can feel more than myself in the car, like how the tyre temp looks like immediately out of the garage. In qualifying, Suzuka was a good example.
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“The tire temp is going lower and lower throughout qualifying and he adjusted Q1 to Q3. When the temperature is going lower, he adjusted it himself in warm-up how he should put pressure into the tyres in each corner, increase the lap time or increase the pace of the outlap or whatever.
“But for me, I didn’t feel it that way.”
Meanwhile, driving the other RB21 since the race weekend in Suzuka, Yuki Tsunoda has been starting to get comfortable piloting the car. In Japan, the new RBR driver put in a qualifying position of 15th place, which he was able to convert into a 12th-place finish. Then, in Sakhir the following weekend, he crossed the finish line to take ninth place, making it the first time both Red Bulls were in the points this season.
The Japanese driver faced misfortune in Jeddah this past weekend after a battle with Pierre Gasly ended his race on the first lap, regardless of his qualifying position of eighth place.
Yuki Tsunoda believes he's in an acceptable range of Max Verstappen
Speaking during a media session at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, Yuki Tsunoda admitted that he's happy with where he is in relation to Max Verstappen. The 24-year-old driver explained that the Red Bull team has been working on making sure that both cars are on the same level, and that he has also observed that his and the Dutch driver's driving styles are quite similar. He said [via Pit Debrief]:
“I’m showing how the car condition is already. The team is putting massive effort to make it as close as possible. I guess slightly there is a bit of that as well, but at the same time, it’s within the range that we can accept and I can for sure accept.
“So far, the driving style, actually, how the brake shape and the releasing part, everything is quite close. I never thought about how the driving style is between us, but so far it’s not too far away.”
Although he DNF'd in Saudi Arabia, the previous weekend at the Bahrain Grand Prix, Yuki Tsunoda and Max Verstappen crossed the finish line only three spots apart, with the defending champion finishing sixth, while Tsunoda finished ninth.
