Yuki Tsunoda file photo.© AFP
Yuki Tsunoda promised Thursday to bring “something different” to Red Bull after his sudden promotion before his Japanese Grand Prix this weekend. The Japanese driver was catapulted into the hot seat of Red Bull alongside the quadruple world champion Max Verstappen last week when he replaced the two underperformative races of Liam Lawson in the season. Tsunoda will make his debut in Red Bull in Suzuka, with Lawson exchanging places to return to Sister Team Racing Bulls (RB).
Tsunoda said that the chief of the Red Bulls, Christian Horner, “clearly” said to him that “their main priority was maximum”, but the Japanese runner is eager to have an impact in his own way.
“I am not saying that I am convinced that I can play right away like Max,” said Tsunoda, who is in his fifth season F1 and has not yet set up on the podium.
“But I trust that I can do something different, I hope, compared to other drivers.
“If I don’t trust, I’m not very good. I would stay at Racing Bulls,” added the 24 -year -old.
Tsunoda said he had fully accepted that Verstappen was the top of the team.
“He is a quadruple world champion and so far already in the last races, even in the difficult situation of the car, he has still performed well,” said Tsunoda.
He added that his team instructions should “be as close to Max as possible”.
Tsunoda was sent for a Red Bull seat in favor of Lawson when Sergio Perez left at the end of last season.
Tsunoda said the decision was “brutal” for him, but he accepted it at the time as part of the life of the Red Bull organization.
“We understand, I am sure that Liam also understands how the situation can very quickly change in our structure,” he said.
(This story has not been published by NDTV staff and is automatically generated from a unionized flow.)
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