Christian Horner provides Yuki Tsunoda update after lack of Red Bull test questioned
Red Bull Racing Team Principal Christian Horner talks with Yuki Tsunoda.
Liam Lawson has just completed a filming day behind the wheel of Red Bull Racing’s RB20, giving the young racer valuable experience behind the wheel of a top-tier Formula 1 car. But why didn’t Yuki Tsunoda have the same opportunity?
After the British Grand Prix, RBR team boss Christian Horner kept his cards close to his chest, answering “you never know…” when asked about the chance for Tsunoda to test a car.
Christian Horner: Yuki Tsunoda “is a Red Bull Racing driver”
Additional reporting by Thomas Maher and Sam Cooper
Speaking to media, including PlanetF1.com, after the British Grand Prix, Christian Horner was asked why Japanese racer Yuki Tsunoda has never been offered a test behind the wheel of a Red Bull Racing machine.
The question was particularly relevant, considering that later in the week, Liam Lawson would have a shot behind the wheel of the RB20 during a filming day at Silverstone.
Horner’s initial response was quite coy, as he said, “Yuki’s a Red Bull Racing driver. He’s on a Red Bull Racing contract, and we re-signed him because he’s been performing well, so we’re very aware of his performances.”
When pressed on what that could mean for Tsunoda’s future in the top Red Bull team, Horner responded, “You never know, maybe he’ll get a test one day, you never know.”
More on Red Bull Racing’s driver program:
? All the mid-season driver swaps Red Bull have made in their F1 history
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Later in the conversation, Horner was asked how he felt Tsunoda could improve — perhaps in order to secure a test day with Red Bull, or to earn a promotion from the VCARB team.
“I think Yuki’s doing a good job,” Horner answered. “He scored another point today. He’s stringing weekends together. He’s doing a good job.”
However, Horner also mentioned the benefit that signing an experienced driver like Daniel Ricciardo has had on Tsunoda.
“I think [Tsunoda will] openly admit that he’s learned from Daniel in terms of having an experienced driver and how they interact with the team and the engineers,” Horner said.
“And y’know, Yuki’s not a rookie anymore. He’s got quite a lot of experience now under his belt, and you can see he’s putting that to good use.
“In difficult conditions like today, I think he drove a very good race.”
Experience, points… is it enough to secure a full-time seat at Red Bull Racing, or a chance to test the car in the near future?
Well, Horner had an equally coy answer for that one, too.
“You can never rule anything out,” he said.
“Yuki, we have options for multiple years on him because we believe that he’s a talent.”
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