Yuki Tsunoda endorsed for Red Bull F1 seat by Max Verstappen’s ex-teammate

Pierre Gasly believes Yuki Tsunoda “deserves” the chance to drive for the Red Bull senior team.

Tsunoda is one of the drivers in the mix to replace the struggling Sergio Perez, who insists he is 100 percent confident of retaining his seat for 2025 despite continually underperforming alongside teammate and newly-crowned four-time world champion Max Verstappen.

RB teammate Liam Lawson is also a contender, while Williams stand-in Franco Colapinto has been mooted as an alternative candidate should Red Bull decide to make a change to their line-up by bringing in a driver from outside their pool.

Gasly, who was dropped by Red Bull after just 12 races alongside Verstappen, reckons his former teammate Tsunoda has done enough to earn a shot at promotion.

"I think performance-wise, he deserves a chance,” Gasly told media including Crash.net at the Qatar Grand Prix on Thursday.

“He seems to have improved a lot from the moment he came. He's been performing pretty strongly, I would say, this season and also last year. He’s beaten his teammate.

“From this point of view, I think, looking at the programme, the Red Bull programme, it will make sense to give him a shot.

“But ultimately, we know there is not only performance that comes down to that decision. It's a top team. And it depends on what Christian [Horner, team principal] and Helmut [Marko, Red Bull advisor] wants to do with it.

"Personally, I'd like to see him and see what he does there. But I know it's not that easy. And if you ask me performance-wise, yeah, I think he deserved a chance.”

Tsunoda will get an opportunity to drive Red Bull’s 2024 car in the post-season Abu Dhabi test.

Red Bull’s shareholders are set to make a decision on their 2025 driver line-up in a crucial meeting following the season finale.