Yuki Tsunoda pinpoints Red Bull improvement with ‘now it makes sense’ verdict

When it comes to locking down the field for the F1 2026 season, there’s one major seat that everyone has an eye on: Yuki Tsunoda’s. The Japanese driver has struggled to adapt to his Red Bull Racing machine, but the Azerbaijan Grand Prix could represent a turning point.

For the first time this year, Tsunoda climbed out of the car praising the RB21’s long-run pace as being unlike anything he’s seen so far this year, noting that “now it makes sense.”

RB21 “makes sense” for Yuki Tsunoda in Azerbaijan

Since being promoted to Red Bull Racing back at the 2025 Japanese Grand Prix, Yuki Tsunoda has struggled to really make waves in the challenging car, but after Friday practice in Azerbaijan, he admitted that he’s feeling better than ever before.

In Free Practice 1, for example, Tsunoda set the sixth-quickest time, outpacing teammate Max Verstappen. And while he dropped back to 14th on the timing charts in FP2, he still approached the media after the conclusion of the day’s running with positivity.

Asked about his pace, he replied, “It’s good.

“I mean, short run there’s some, obviously, room to put it all together.

“But [that]’s something that I tried, and it’s good. There was something we were experiencing in FP2 and everything, but mainly what we were focused [on] was the long run, and that seems much better.”

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Perhaps most tellingly, Tsunoda admitted that this was an abnormal experience.

“I mean, never seen that kind of thing so far this year, in the long run,” he said. “So far it’s working. Now it makes sense, so far, with the long run.”

Tsunoda’s performance in Azerbaijan will be critical to securing his future — a future that, at this moment in time, is very much in doubt.

After being passed over for promotion to Red Bull at the start of the F1 2025 season, the Japanese driver was only elevated to the team after full-season rookie Liam Lawson struggled to find his footing in the notoriously challenging RB21. The thought was that Tsunoda’s greater amount of F1 experience would enable him to better assist in the development of the car, but his pace simply hasn’t looked strong. In fact, he’s sitting 19th in the overall championship standings, while Racing Bulls driver Isack Hadjar has managed to crack the top 10.

Helmut Marko, special advisor to Red Bull, told media during the Dutch Grand Prix weekend that the team expected to make a decision about Tsunoda’s future around the Mexico City Grand Prix, and in Baku, Marko reaffirmed that timeline with journalists.

That means Tsunoda will have roughly three to four races in which to prove himself of Red Bull Racing quality — and a strong performance in Baku would be one major step in that direction.

But overall, Helmut Marko is positive about the team’s potential.

“The long runs, we are promising,” he began.

“I think we are in a position to fight on the front. On the qualifying lap, we must find one tenth, one tenth and a half. But that’s possible with fine-tuning.”

However, he also noted that “roughly half a tenth” can be found by swapping engine modes, which promises a strong qualifying session.

“I think we can prove here that [Monza] was not a one-off event,” said Marko, referring to Max Verstappen’s victory at the last race in Italy.

“I believe we will be top three tomorrow in qualifying, and that means we can also fight in the race for the win.

“So the momentum goes. The car has a wider window, and it’s easier to set up. So that definitely is a step forward.”

But Marko’s statements and hopes seem to be very Verstappen-centric. He did indeed reaffirm that “Yuki is the same equipment, like Max” this weekend, but he declined to make any definitive predictions about the Japanese driver’s anticipated performance.

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