Yuki Tsunoda Struggles to Find Pace with Red Bull RB21
Montreal, Canada – Yuki Tsunoda, now in his seventh race with Red Bull Racing, continues to face significant challenges in extracting competitive lap times from the RB21, mirroring a recurring trend since Daniel Ricciardo’s departure prior to the 2019 season. Ricciardo had competitive moments alongside teammate Max Verstappen, but his experience was marred by incidents, including a high-profile crash in Baku.
Since then, numerous drivers from Red Bull’s young driver program have struggled to make their mark in the senior team, with Sergio Perez being the notable exception, successfully completing four seasons. Tsunoda’s predecessor, Liam Lawson, was replaced after only two races, highlighting the intense pressure on drivers in the RB engineering environment.
Alex Albon, who moved from Toro Rosso (now known as Racing Bulls) to Red Bull in 2019, shared insights on the challenges of adapting to the leading team’s car. “The [Red Bull Racing] cars are on a knife edge,” Albon noted, reflecting on his own difficulties in the transition. He emphasized the contrasting dynamics: "The RB is quite forgiving… but then you’re going from one of the cars that’s most forgiving to the trickiest."
Rookie drivers today lack the extensive testing opportunities of past eras, making adaptation to the complexities of Formula 1 increasingly challenging. Modern ground-effect cars, noted for their aggressive setup requirements and reduced tolerance for error, require rapid adjustment, particularly from drivers like Tsunoda, who has already entered his 100th Grand Prix weekend.
Despite speculation surrounding a two-day test in Barcelona after the recent Spanish Grand Prix, this was primarily a Pirelli tire development session. As Tsunoda relies heavily on simulator work at Red Bull’s Milton Keynes base, he acknowledged that real-world performance often diverges sharply from virtual experiences.
Albon advised that Tsunoda may need to embrace continuous on-track learning as the primary path to improvement: “I think with the experience I have now, I’d be able to get around it. But it’s not something that feels that natural to most drivers.”
The situation remains fluid as Red Bull evaluates Tsunoda’s performance in the competitive landscape of Formula 1, while the team hopes to harness his experience to better navigate the limits of the RB21.
