“He’ll be fine”: Yuki Tsunoda wins initial praise from Red Bull Racing in bid to hone qualifying rhythm

Yuki Tsunoda's move to Red Bull Racing has already won early acclaim from the team's senior personnel, with Chief Engineer Paul Monaghan calling the Japanese driver a quality signing who is ‘settling in well’. The one-time Racing Bulls driver, who replaced Liam Lawson at the Japanese Grand Prix, has already earned points and qualified in Q3 on several occasions—but says he still needs to improve, particularly in qualifying, where Max Verstappen remains unstoppable. Having been overlooked for a promotion previously, Yuki Tsunoda at last won a permanent place at Red Bull Racing with three-time world champion Max Verstappen. Since arriving, he has posted Q3 outings in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, and Miami, and picked up points in two of the previous three races—including the Miami Sprint. However, for all these encouraging signs, Yuki Tsunoda is still behind Max Verstappen in outright qualifying pace and admits it is still a learning curve to get the maximum out of the RB21 in Q3. Red Bull Racing's Paul Monaghan provided a blunt but upbeat assessment of Yuki Tsunoda's early inputs. “He seems to be settling in really well, actually. It’s not the easiest circumstances to step into,” Monaghan commented. “He came in, he’s been forthright in his feedback, he’s been courteous, he’s been a good team member. He’s been a little bit unlucky at times, lucky at others… He’s finding his feet. He’s not afraid to speak his mind, he states what he wants and what he doesn’t like, which is good. He’s in the team, he’s a good member of it, and he’ll be fine."Tsunoda, before the Miami Grand Prix, admitted the region where he needs to improve. “To be completely honest, the last few races, I wasn’t able to put it all together in Q3,” he said during a Thursday press conference. “I built up more through Q1 and Q2, and Q3 is certainly more of a push. If you push slightly more than the car can handle, even 2% more than what the car wants, it just reacts super differently to what I'm used to. I can’t predict it yet. That will come with experience at Red Bull. I definitely haven’t been able to extract the performance in Q3. It’s something I need to work on. If I can qualify higher, there’s a better chance of scoring points. You can be more flexible with the team on strategy. Definitely a priority area to work on.” Also read: Ahead of Miami GP F1 driver Yuki Tsunoda reflects on his journey from VCARB to Red BullDespite Red Bull Racing’s recent growth, the margin to McLaren is a pressing concern. But for now, internal development — both of the car and of Yuki Tsunoda — remains the priority.