Yuki Tsunoda remains in the picture for a seat at Red Bull in 2025 so long as his performance remains impressive.
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RB CEO Peter Bayer has revealed that Yuki Tsunoda remains in consideration for a promotion to the Red Bull Team from RB, if he consistently delivers this season.
After many believed the second Red Bull seat would have undergone a change across the summer shutdown, it was believed that Tsunoda was not in the mix to replace Sergio Pérez.
This shocked many fans as the Japanese driver has impressed so far in the 2024 season. This led to a contact extension at RB, which was announced in June.
Bayer has said Tsunoda will be an option for Red Bull if he performs at a consistently high standard.
“Helmut [Marko, Red Bull’s motorsport advisor] said it himself, in German you say a swallow doesn’t make a summer,” Bayer said. “What it means is that if Yuki keeps racing on this level consistently, he will be considered for a seat in Red Bull Racing
“That’s ultimately exactly our mission and the mission we’ve been given by the shareholders, and if that means that he needs another season next to a very strong Daniel, that could be an option.
“It could also be an option [to] say that, okay, we now believe he’s ready. So [then] we’ll talk to Liam [Lawson]. We’re not in a hurry, despite all the people [who] think we are, because we do have all the options in our hands.”
“Phenomenal”
The praise for Tsunoda does not end there. RB team principal Laurent Mekies believes that Tsunoda’s improvement in his fourth year in F1 is “phenomenal” and has admired his ambition to move up to Red Bull.
“You expect a lot of things from a young guy between the first and the second year, maybe between the second and the third year,” Mekies said. “But you don’t expect that sort of phenomenal step between third and fourth, so – yes, he’s faster. Yes, he’s calmer. Yes, he’s better integrating the team, better feedback, hopefully happy!
“But seriously, he has been a reference point in the way that he gets out of the garage on Friday FP1 – and, bang: the first lap, he is there.
He also added: “Yuki is a Red Bull driver. He must have the ambition to drive for Red Bull Racing. If he doesn’t have that – it’s wrong.
“I hope and I trust that he wants more than anything else to drive that car to win races. We also try to help him developing him in that way. So that’s what the business is.
“Was he fully happy to extend with us to drive for us next year? Yes, [and] it’s a question for him but because what he tells us is that he is mega ambitious, he can see a team [that] is mega ambitious and the fit is obviously working.
“It helps him develop, he has paid us back with quite [an] incredible level of performance.”
Image Credit: Red Bull Content Pool
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