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Yuki Tsunoda believes he would deserve to take over the second Red Bull seat were the world champions to drop the struggling Sergio Perez – and suggests it would be “weird” if reserve driver Liam Lawson was promoted ahead of him.
F1 has arrived in Budapest for this weekend’s Hungarian GP with pressure building on Perez to quickly find a big step forward in form after a run of results that Red Bull team boss Christian Horner has admitted is “unsustainable”.
Amid a growing challenge to Red Bull from their rivals at the front of F1, Perez has scored only 15 points in the last six races in a period team-mate Max Verstappen has claimed 119.
It is thought that the final two races before F1’s summer break, of which Hungary is the first ahead of next week’s Belgian GP, are crucial to Perez’s prospects amid speculation about the presence of possible performance clauses contained in the new Red Bull contract the Mexican signed in early June.
Japan’s Tsunoda, who drives for Red Bull’s sister team RB, would represent one of several in-house alternatives for the world champions to choose from were they decide to make a change in the seat next to Verstappen.
Asked at the Hungaroring on Thursday if he felt ready for one of F1’s most competitive seats, Tsunoda told reporters: “Yeah. If I’m not ready, I wouldn’t have been able to announce next season at least for even VCARB [RB].
“Obviously, I’m feeling ready, compared to the last three years, to fight against top teams, higher positions, even with Max or whatever.
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Bernie Collins discusses the gap between Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen and the impact it may be having on Red Bull
“But in the end, they are the ones who are going to decide and it’s not a thing I can control. So I’m just focusing on what I have to do in the next two races.”
Then asked directly if he thought he deserved the seat next to Verstappen, Tsunoda replied: “Yeah.”
Tsunoda: Promoting Lawson ahead of me would be ‘weird’
At RB, Tsunoda has outperformed his team-mate Daniel Ricciardo since the eight-time Grand Prix winner joined him at the team from last year’s Hungarian GP and is currently the only one of the two with a contract for 2025.
Yet, despite that form, Tsunoda has not been thought to be under serious consideration for a promotion in the Red Bull stable at least up until now.
Liam Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda were team-mates for five races in 2023
Indeed Red Bull’s reserve driver Liam Lawson, who raced alongside Tsunoda for five races in the second half of last season while Ricciardo was sidelined by a hand injury, appears higher in the prospective pecking order and the New Zealander last week tested the current championship-leading RB20 in a filming day at Silverstone.
Put to him by reporters that choosing Lawson over him could be considered a ‘weird’ move, Tsunoda replied: “If they choose Liam, that would be weird.
“But I mean, for me at least… I don’t think so.
“For sure, Liam did a really good job when he drove for the team, but I think I did more than that. We’ll see how it goes. In the end, they know how to manage drivers.”
Tsunoda said he had only had “general casual chat” in the paddock rather than any “serious talks and conversation yet” with either Horner or Helmut Marko, Red Bull’s advisor.
“The thing is, they’re not really rushing it,” he added.
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Sergio Perez says it ‘hurts’ to let the team down after going out in Q1 but hopes to limit the damage during the race tomorrow
“Checo, they announce it two races before, a race before, and Checo might perform really, really well, and if a driver’s performing well they don’t have reason to change driver.
“In the end, what they are doing for sure is a good thing for Checo because they don’t want to create any pressure and that’s definitely fair. Also for myself, they want me to focus on what I’m doing right now. We don’t have serious talks and conversation yet.”
Sky Sports F1’s live Hungarian GP schedule
Friday July 19
8.50am: F3 Practice
10am: F2 Practice
12pm: Hungarian GP Practice One (session starts at 12.30pm)
2pm: F3 Qualifying
3pm: F2 Qualifying
3.45pm: Hungarian GP Practice Two (session starts at 4pm)
5:15pm: The F1 Show
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Look back at some of the most dramatic moments throughout the years at the Hungarian Grand Prix
Saturday July 20
8:45am: F3 Sprint
11.15am: Hungarian GP Practice Three (session starts at 11.30am)
1.10pm: F2 Sprint
2.15pm: Hungarian GP Qualifying build-up
3pm: Hungarian GP Qualifying
5pm: Ted’s Qualifying Notebook
Sunday July 21
7:20am: F3 Feature Race
9am: F2 Feature Race
11am: Porsche Supercup
12:30pm: Grand Prix Sunday – Hungarian GP build-up
2pm: The HUNGARIAN GRAND PRIX
4pm: Chequered Flag: Hungarian GP reaction
5pm: Ted’s Notebook
Next up for F1 is the Hungarian Grand Prix from Budapest on July 19-21. You can watch every session live on Sky Sports F1. Stream every F1 race and more with a NOW Sports Month Membership – No contract, cancel anytime
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