Yuki Tsunoda is increasingly confident in his driving skills in the RB21. The Japanese driver is on the eve of his third race weekend as a Red Bull driver, but he is already making a bold and confident statement. According to Tsunoda, he just needs more experience in the Red Bull car before he can compete with teammate Max Verstappen.
Yuki Tsunoda is starting his third Grand Prix weekend in the RB21 in Saudi Arabia. In Bahrain, the Japanese driver scored the first points for his new team. “I am very happy with my level of confidence, considering I have only had two races (with Red Bull),” Tsunoda begins in Saudi Arabia. “But I am still in the process of understanding how the car works.”
Although Tsunoda does not expect too much from himself in the short term, he has ambitious plans for the longer term as a Red Bull driver. “I know I can’t beat Max (Verstappen) right now, so I’m mainly trying to lay a good foundation. It all comes down to experience.”
The Japanese driver, who has driven for Red Bull’s sister team for four seasons, thinks that the latter is currently the biggest difference between the four-time world champion and himself. “Max understands the car very well. I don’t yet understand exactly how the car feels on every circuit. I just need to take the time to understand that. Once I succeed, I can probably beat Max.”
Confidence
For now, Tsunoda honestly admits that he does not yet feel completely ‘relaxed’ in the RB21. “I don’t have full control over it yet,” the driver admits. “I know how Max builds his confidence throughout the week, very differently from how I do it. He feels more in the car than I do, and he has so much confidence in it.”
