How Did Yuki Tsunoda Fare In His Very First Red Bull Drive?

To most of the hardcore F1 fans and those who have specially given effort in viewing the rather impressive performances of a certain Yuki Tsunoda, a question really stands out given his racing future in F1. And it’s a rather perplexing one as also marked with a certain kind of expectation.

The question is rather simple: will we get to see Red Bull hiring Yuki Tsunoda some time? In other words, how soon can one see Yuki Tsunoda behind the wheels of a Red Bull car as a full-time driver?

Now while one simply doesn’t know which way the pendulum is likely to swing where to comes to Yuki Tsunoda in a Red Bull car for the long term, one does know for a fact that the young Japanese driver was most recently driving one at Abu Dhabi and it wasn’t for a proper F1 race.

As a matter of fact, one of the most interesting developments in the aftermath of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix was the pre-season 2025 tyre test that took place at the famed Yas Marina circuit. And since neither among Max Verstappen or Sergio Perez were present at the that time, which meant the completion of the FIA F1 world championship round of 2024, it meant that Red Bull eventually threw the dice over to Yuki Tsunoda.

And speaking most recently to the F1 media post stepping for the first time ever for Red Bull duties albeit not for a Grand Prix, Yuki Tsunoda alluded to the fact that he actually ‘impressed’ the Milton Keynes-based team for his maiden effort:

In his first-ever effort in the Red Bull RB 20, Yuki Tsunoda didn’t take much time to terms with the task and managed a time of 1:24:689. In all, the enthusiastic Japanese driver managed no fewer than 127 laps in the car.

On the other hand, his Visa Cash App or RB teammate Liam Lawson, who most notably marked a return to F1 in 2024, became the driver with most laps completed in that particular session at Abu Dhabi. Driving on next year’s C6 compounds, which will be in operation in the 2025 F1 season, Yuki Tsunoda took nicely to the Red Bull challenge.

The Sagamihara-born was also of the view that his engineers were impressed with the effort and the inputs that he provided upon the completion of the test session. Though, in comparison, Tsunoda was somewhere 1.4 seconds behind the fastest time set by Sergio Perez during free practice 3 for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, which marked the season-ending race of F1 in 2024.

In future, Tsunoda does deserve a chance and some consideration, especially because he has, in addition to age, the enthusiasm and hunger to perform to the best of his ability. He was largely responsible for the 46 points that his Laurent Mekies-led team scored over the course of 24 F1 Grands Prix this season.