Yuki Tsunoda responds to Zak Brown’s Red Bull “strange driver choices” comment

Yuki Tsunoda says he ‘appreciates’ McLaren boss Zak Brown’s comment that he should be driving for Red Bull following his impressive display at the F1 Australian Grand Prix.

Tsunoda starred in the season-opener, out-qualifying both Ferraris to secure fifth on the grid.

This was in stark contrast to Liam Lawson, who had a torrid weekend for Red Bull.

Lawson was knocked out in Q1 before retiring from the race.

Red Bull overlooked Tsunoda in terms of being Sergio Perez’s replacement as they ultimately opted for Lawson.

After qualifying, Brown couldn’t resist but commenting on the Red Bull situation, telling Sky Sports: “Yuki did a great job. [He is] probably the guy who should be in the Red Bull if you look at how he’s performed, but they seem to make some strange driver choices from time to time.”

Tsunoda referred to Brown’s remark when speaking to media in Shanghai ahead of the Chinese Grand Prix.

“I appreciate what Zak said to me in the press, but it’s just one race,” Tsunoda said as quoted by RN365.

“These things have been going on since last year [after the] first race. Daniel-Checo, myself-Checo, Liam-Checo. It’s a bit of a tradition for our group. It’s positive but at the same time, I just have to keep [doing] what I’m doing.

“In the end, they chose this line-up last year at the end of the season. Maybe they have a clear plan for the future, I don’t know.”

Missed opportunity for Tsunoda

Australia proved to be a missed opportunity for Tsunoda and Racing Bulls.

Tsunoda remained inside the top six for most of the race, even overtaking Charles Leclerc during the transition from dry tyres to intermediates.

However, like Ferrari, RB misjudged the strategy, meaning Tsunoda plummeted out of the points.

Tsunoda revealed that the team apologised to him after for their strategy blunder.

“It was hard for myself as well to monitor every single corner because every lap it kept changing,” he added. “The lap before, sector one was not raining, but one lap later it was complete rain and we reacted too late.

“I don’t think I made a mistake, to be honest, in terms of communications and everything, I’m pretty happy with it.

“It just didn’t go the way we wanted. The safety car came out a lap after I pitted, which wasn’t bad.

“At the same time, we know what has happened, and the team apologised to me right after the race.”