Yuki Tsunoda aiming for Japanese GP podium after landing Red Bull F1 drive
Liam Lawson’s dismal pace at the start of the year has helped Yuki Tsunoda earn a promotion to Red Bull’s flagship team.
Yuki Tsunoda says he is targeting a podium finish in next week’s Japanese Grand Prix after securing a plum Formula 1 seat at Red Bull ahead of his home race.
After spending just over four seasons at AlphaTauri/Racing Bulls and impressing his bosses with his speed and new-found maturity, Tsunoda has been promoted to Red Bull alongside four-time F1 champion Max Verstappen.
The news was made official on Thursday, just a few days after the team’s original 2025 signing Liam Lawson qualified last in Shanghai and made limited progress in the race.
The jury is out on how Tsunoda will fare at Red Bull, given how tough the RB21 is to drive.
The 24-year-old sampled the car in a simulator this week to prepare for his debut and also drove Red Bull’s 2024 challenger in Abu Dhabi last year, but he will not have the luxury of a pre-season test to prepare for his debut with one of the most successful grand prix teams in history.
Speaking in his first public appearance since being announced at Red Bull, Tsunoda admitted that it will take time for him to get used to his new surroundings, but he is nevertheless keen to start the partnership on a high at Suzuka.
"I don't want to get my expectations too high, but first and foremost, I want to get on the podium at the Japanese GP,” Tsunoda was quoted by Motorsport.com Japan.
"However, I don't think it will go so well from the start, so I need to understand the car first, and gradually check how it compares to the Racing Bulls' car from FP1. Once I can naturally enjoy driving it, I think the results will follow. If that result is a podium, that would be fantastic."
Tsunoda made those comments at a special event at the famous Honda Aoyama Building in Tokyo, where he was joined by hundreds of spectators.
The Japanese racer admitted that he was surprised to land the seat at Red Bull, having originally been overlooked for the drive at the end of last year in favour of his then-teammate Lawson.
“I never thought I'd be racing for Red Bull at the Japanese GP,” he said.
"I'm happy, but I also feel like the team is changing.
"But when you think about it, it's not realistic to suddenly be racing [with Red Bull] at the Japanese GP. When I first heard about it, I thought, 'Wow, this is going to be interesting.'
"I don't think I've ever been in a more pressured and challenging situation in my life, so I think it's going to be an incredibly exciting race."
The RB21 has already developed a reputation for being a tricky car to drive, with both Verstappen and Lawson complaining about its characteristics in the opening two rounds of the season.
Tsunoda didn’t find his first experience of the RB21 in a simulator ‘strange’, but admitted that he would like to make some changes to the car to make it more suitable to his driving style.
"On the simulator, I didn't feel it was such a challenging car,” he explained. “Of course, I had the impression that it was a car that was prone to turning at the front, as people often say, but in terms of being tricky, it didn't feel that strange. That is, on the simulator, after all.
"Of course, I think the type of car I want to make is different from Max (Verstappen), so I want to make a good car myself, understand it, and gradually start running it."
