Red Bull new recruit Yuki Tsunoda has been told to get as close to his world champion teammate Max Verstappen as possible at the Japanese Grand Prix this weekend and he certainly delivered in the first practice session on Friday.
Yuki Tsunoda said the feeling in his Red Bull is “exaggerated” compared to his simulator testing as he admitted to
Two races into the 2025 Formula 1 season Red Bull shocked the paddock, demoting Liam Lawson after picking him to replace Sergio Pérez. Lawson heads back to Visa Cash App Racing Bulls and Yuki Tsunoda,
Those close to Tsunoda are adamant that Red Bull is getting a new and improved version of the hotheaded rookie from 2021.
Tsunoda, 24, has shown good speed in his Racing Bulls car so far and lost out on a points-scoring finish when he had to pit because of a front wing issue late in the Chinese Grand Prix. But don’t expect that speed to translate to race-winning speed in Japan. Tsunoda is +4000 to win the race at BetMGM and is the No. 7 favorite.
That sensitivity and haphazardness show the scale of the task ahead for Yuki Tsunoda, ahead of his Red Bull debut this weekend at his home race in Japan. Tsunoda received the call-up after a torrid first two races for Liam Lawson in Australia and China, which included a crash and two back-of-the-pack qualifying results.
SUZUKA, Japan — Yuki Tsunoda finally has his promotion at Red Bull. That was difficult enough, elevated to the top team last week as Liam Lawson was demoted to Red Bull's No. 2 Formula 1 team — Racing Bulls — after failing to score points in the season's first two races.
Free Practice session 1 marked the beginning of Yuki Tsunoda’s first weekend in his new Red Bull Racing seat. Tsunoda was able to keep up with Verstappen and ended the session less than three-tenths off his four-time world champion teammate.
In a second practice session that was dogged by no fewer than four red flags, New Zealand’s Liam Lawson can at the very least take pride in clocking a faster lap time than his senior Red Bull teammates at Suzuka.