Yuki Tsunoda is surprised it has taken Red Bull so long to offer him a Formula 1 test, but thinks elements in the “background” have stopped it happening before now.
As revealed by Autosport earlier this week, Tsunoda is being lined up for his first proper run in a Red Bull F1 car after the season finale in Abu Dhabi.
The details have not been finalised yet – and Tsunoda admits the plan could fall through – but he has expressed delight that he appears to be finally getting the opportunity.
“I think that this will happen, maybe” he said ahead of the Mexican Grand Prix. “But with Red Bull Racing, you never know until the day.”
Despite having raced for Red Bull’s sister squad under its AlphaTauri/RB identity since 2021, the Japanese driver has only ever managed to drive a Red Bull car in demo runs.
Asked if he was surprised it has taken so long to get to this point, Tsunoda said: “If you asked that in the second year or third year I'd be very surprised, but it's up to me to get used to it.
“I kind of got used to how difficult [it was] to get even a single day [of] testing [when I am] outperforming most of the team-mates previous years.
“But yeah, there are probably things that I didn't really know [about], something going on around the background that I didn't know. And for sure, at the same time, there's probably the view that I'm not really able to improve as much as they wanted at this level, especially for radio communications.”
Although Tsunoda would have hoped to have his Red Bull opportunity before now, he thinks even a single day of running will give him a chance to demonstrate what he can really do.
“It's a very good opportunity,” he said. “At least I finally can show a bit of my driving and they just can see how I'm driving.
“I think it's very important. So at least it feels great. Finally, they're giving me an opportunity. I don't know if it still happens or not, but there's something even I heard from them directly. So, yeah, I try to maximize my opportunity.”
Tsunoda has also thanked Honda, which has supported his career and played a key role in pushing Red Bull to give him the F1 run.
“Definitely Honda helped me to push that testing,” he added. “I am very appreciative of them.
“Obviously, I was pushing since already the first race, as well, even for last year. But yeah, I was able to show results that I [have] stepped a little bit more compared to last year and also there was a push to Red Bull as well.”
