Marko explains Tsunoda breakthrough ahead of Red Bull driver decision
Yuki Tsunoda is battling for his Red Bull future with his contract set to expire this year.
Red Bull senior advisor Helmut Marko said a meeting with Yuki Tsunoda after the Italian Grand Prix has been key to the Japanese driver’s recent upturn in form.
A 13th-place finish in Monza was followed by Tsunoda’s best result of the year with P6 in Azerbaijan and Marko suggested a behind-the-scenes meeting was key to that.
Yuki Tsunoda on the right track says key Red Bull staff
Tsunoda has struggled to make a mark since receiving a surprise promotion to the Red Bull seat, replacing Liam Lawson two races into this season.
He has scored just 20 points this year, 12 before Baku, with his teammate Max Verstappen doing the bulk of the heavy lifting.
But while his P6 in Baku still doesn’t put Tsunoda anywhere near Verstappen’s 255 points, it may yet save the driver’s F1 with Tsunoda fighting for a seat at either Red Bull or Racing Bulls.
There may finally be some green shoots of recovery after Tsunoda’s latest outing in Baku and Marko said the team has realised he needs more coaching than Verstappen does.
“We sat down after the race in Monza – Tsunoda was sometimes a second slower than Max in the race – and decided on a different approach,” Marko told Sky Germany.
“Simply put, you have to coach him more because of the less experience compared to Max. We have set up the car more according to his wishes.”
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Tsunoda also received praise from team principal Laurent Mekies, who he worked with at Racing Bulls last year.
The Frenchman, who replaced Christian Horner in July, described Baku as not only Tsunoda’s best result but his best performance as well.
“I think it’s his best race with us this year,” the Frenchman stated after Tsunoda’s P6.
“I think he was strong yesterday in qualifying. He was very strong in the race. The clever guys will get the number right, but he was sometimes two, sometimes three, sometimes four-tenths away from Max, and Max was pulling away from everyone with that pace, so it was a very, very serious pace.
“We thought he would have to defend very hard against McLaren and Ferrari to help with Max chasing the win, and he didn’t have to defend. He was actually there on merit, and Lando stayed behind him and didn’t put much pressure on him.
“So, it’s his best, not only result, but also race pace with us. And you’re right, it was really the one thing that was the most important for us to get that. I’m very happy for him.”
Red Bull meanwhile hase a decision to make when it comes to who partners Verstappen in 2026. Tsunoda’s contract expires at the end of this season while rookie Isack Hadjar has impressed at sister team Racing Bulls.
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