Yuki Tsunoda states his case for Red Bull drive amid “rumours” of big changes
"Compare the Q3 appearances, qualifying results and the race results, and it will be clear"
Yuki Tsunoda insists his form warrants a promotion into the Red Bull, should they opt to replace Sergio Perez.
This weekend’s F1 Belgian Grand Prix is the last race until the summer break, when Red Bull will sit down to definitively judge Perez.
Despite penning a new contract this year, Perez’s place for the second half of this season is coming under intense scrutiny.
“At this point I don’t know if they’re considering me, maybe they’re considering me,” RB driver Tsunoda said at Spa, where Crash.net are in the paddock.
“I don’t know. I guess it’s the same for everyone, I don’t think other drivers except Max get any information about that.
“Probably they are having conversations in the background, hopefully I’m in the conversation and I think I’ve done what I should have done.
“I’m happy with what I’ve done until today, and what should I do even more than that? You guys talk about the rumours and the Red Bull seat, it’s quite clear how many points I get compared to other drivers.
“So I’m happy with what I’ve done, it’s the things I can control. I can’t control those things, so I just focus on the things that I can control, which is performance, and see how it goes in this race.”
But, Tsunoda admits he hasn’t spoken to Helmut Marko or Christian Horner.
“Nope. Nope,” he said.
“I don’t know about other drivers. It seems other drivers reacted like they don’t have that kind of conversation either.
“I don’t know about the drivers who currently are not racing now.
“[I hope] they just decide as soon as possible. Obviously I would like to be in the seat, 100%, but it’s also not a really good feeling having rumours flying around or extra pressure, when I never even had any conversations or have any idea about that. I don’t know. But it’s how it goes. I’m just hoping.”
Tsunoda is 12th in the F1 standings ahead of the Belgian Grand Prix, a place higher than teammate Daniel Ricciardo whose results have also been criticised at stages of this year.
Liam Lawson, the Red Bull junior who deputised impressively at AlphaTauri last year, is also a candidate if Perez is ditched.
Despite Tsunoda’s form, it is Ricciardo and Lawson who are more strongly linked to replacing Perez.
“Obviously as a driver there are a couple of races where I could have done better,” Tsunoda reacted.
“For example Montreal, I was in the points and I lost the points that were in my hands. But other times, just please compare the Q3 appearances, qualifying results and the race results, and it will be clear.
“So in my opinion, yes, it’s quite clear. But other than that I don’t know.
“It seems like there are also other factors obviously, because they are considering other drivers as well.
“It’s based on rumours, but…
“If you just see the performance, it’s quite clear like I said. It’s really clear that I’m the one performing well, even in the top of the midfield, if you compared to all the drivers.”
Tsunoda is, at least, contracted to remain at RB in 2025, a luxury which Ricciardo does not yet have.
But Tsunoda admitted: “Apparently, Helmut said they can play around with anything he wants. So the contract is almost nothing.
“To be honest I didn’t read it properly. Whatever that says, I guess it’s more like… Yeah for now I guess it’s this team.”
