Yuki Tsunoda “confident” of being on par with Max Verstappen as the season progresses

Yuki Tsunoda is steadily growing in confidence as he adapts to life alongside Max Verstappen at Red Bull Racing. Speaking to media including Sportskeeda ahead of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, the Japanese driver expressed optimism about building on his early momentum and reckoned the high-speed Jeddah Corniche circuit would suit him better than Bahrain.

Having completed only two race weekends in the RB21, Tsunoda has shown encouraging signs of progress, closing the gap to his three-time world champion teammate more convincingly than some of his predecessors. While he admitted in Bahrain that he was still reliant on Verstappen’s feedback to develop the car, Tsunoda noted that much of his adaptation is happening in real time. With limited pre-season testing and no substantial simulator preparation, his learning curve has been steep and heavily condensed into race weekends.

Despite the challenges, Tsunoda says his confidence in the RB21 is growing. He acknowledged that the car can be tricky to handle, something even Verstappen has commented on at times. However, he feels that he was getting a better grasp of its behavior, particularly in qualifying and race trim. Key areas of focus for him remain tire warm-up and understanding setup direction, where the narrow operating window has made things challenging. However, he believes that with more consistency and race mileage, he can continue to close the gap to Verstappen and deliver solid results.

Questioned by Sportskeeda about his confidence with his car and setups compared to his teammate, Yuki Tsunoda said:

“In terms of confidence level, I'm quite happy with the level where I am considering two races and I'm sure it will come more. But just more towards like I'm just trying to understand how this car operates and how this car performs well when it… there are a lot of reasons for it to perform well in the window that this car wants. Like warm-up and set-ups and those things, I haven't fully understood yet, and like I said, I don't really understand even half of it.”

“So this thing is the key that I'm trying to work on really hard to, you know, understand as soon as possible. So I can work on different sort of stuff, you know, also to development and whatever. It's still far, yeah, I'm able to kind of put it all together in the qualifying and race, but also at the same time, it's quite up and down, still there's a bit of up and down. I've been wanting to FP3, so I just wanted to be more consistent throughout.”

Asked how confident he was about matching his teammate in Saudi Arabia, he said:

“I guess, I won't say 100 % yet, but it's definitely more than for sure in Suzuka or more than how I started in Bahrain FP1. So yeah, it's getting there. It’s just these things, you know, it won't go straight away back. Anyway in Saudi you need to build up anyway throughout the week. But yeah, definitely more confidence than the last grand prix.”

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Yuki Tsunoda sheds light on his learning process during team debriefs at Red Bull

Yuki Tsunoda believes he’s receiving strong support from Red Bull engineers and teammate Max Verstappen as he continues to acclimate to the RB21. The Japanese driver shared that while the team is doing its best to assist him during debriefs, there are still many elements he’s learning to grasp, particularly without the context of driving the car’s predecessor.

Tsunoda pointed out that with only two circuits under his belt in the RB21, he’s still figuring out how the car behaves across different track characteristics. He admitted that some aspects of the debriefs are still new territory for him, especially when comparisons are made to previous Red Bull machinery, experiences he can’t relate to. Nonetheless, he feels the engineers’ insights and Verstappen’s feedback are valuable in helping him understand what to expect and how to adapt.

Without the benefit of a preseason test or simulator preparation over the winter, Tsunoda’s learning curve has been steep, with most of his adaptation coming race by race. He acknowledged that new challenges can emerge from circuit to circuit, as seen in Verstappen’s unexpected issue in Bahrain, which adds another layer of unpredictability. In such situations, Tsunoda believes the engineers' experience is crucial in guiding him, but ultimately, the process of building confidence comes down to track time and continued learning on the go.

Asked how much of the learning about the car can be done off-track between races, Yuki Tsunoda explained:

"The thing is I'm mostly kind of briefed and I'm also consistently chatting with engineers but these things come also with the experience really. How this car behaves quite differently in each track as well, so it's quite hard to predict. And each track has a kind of different behaviour and so they face the new thing, which also probably Max had a similar feeling in the Bahrain. So it's just that sort of thing. Obviously it's a part that no one can expect but the place that people, Max understood quite well and the engineers understood well. It's coming from their experience, how they had in the previous Grand Prix, it's not that they can tell in words. They can tell in words but I don't understand fully how it exactly feels like in the car. So those things I just have to take time and build it up.”

Yuki Tsunoda opened his points tally with Red Bull by finishing in the top ten at the Bahrain Grand Prix, marking an important milestone in his transition to the senior team. Scoring his first points for Red Bull has naturally boosted his motivation heading into the demanding Jeddah weekend.

The Saudi Arabian GP presents a unique challenge, with its high-speed layout and narrow margins for error. Overtaking opportunities are limited, and the street circuit’s unforgiving nature means Tsunoda will need to draw on his growing confidence and experience to deliver a strong, mistake-free performance.

So far in 2025, Tsunoda has scored two points for Red Bull Racing, in addition to the four points he earned earlier with their junior outfit, VCARB. Red Bull Racing currently sits third in the Constructors’ Championship with 71 points, but they face a significant deficit, already trailing reigning champions McLaren by 80 points. As the season progresses, Tsunoda’s continued adaptation and ability to contribute consistently will be vital as the team looks to close the gap and ascend to the top.