Yuki Tsunoda made the leap to Red Bull during the recent Japanese Grand Prix. After more than four years with Racing Bulls, he finally got the chance to try his hand at the sister team. During his home race, as well as during the first free practice sessions in Bahrain, he seemed somewhat unfamiliar with communicating with race engineer Richard Wood. Tsunoda has since figured out how to build a good relationship with the Scot.
“There were some communication problems over the radio between my race engineer and me,” said Yuki Tsunoda after the second free practice session. In the first sessions, he clocked the ninth and eighteenth times respectively. “That’s part of the learning process,” he continued. “We need to understand each other – it was only our fifth session together. If we can improve communication, I think operational matters will run much smoother. That should improve lap times.”
‘We Should Go Out’
Tsunoda knows exactly how he and his race engineer can improve their communication. “Maybe Woody (Richard Wood, ed.) and I should go out tonight to get to know each other better,” he joked. “With my Japanese English and his Scottish English, it’s bound to be a fun night.”
As for Red Bull’s speed, Tsunoda is fairly optimistic. While Max Verstappen previously said that the gap with McLaren is ‘very large’, Tsunoda remains confident. “I feel there is potential in the car, but it’s difficult to extract it,” concluded the Japanese driver. “I’m still optimistic and I’m sure we can make a lot of changes before the qualification.”
