Yuki Tsunoda reveals 'all he needs' to remedy wretched Red Bull form

Yuki Tsunoda believes all he needs to turn around his dismal form at Red Bull is to build up his confidence in the RB21. Since replacing Liam Lawson alongside Max Verstappen for the third round of the F1 season, at Suzuka, the Japanese driver has thus far proven not to be the significant improvement on the New Zealander that the Milton Keynes squad hoped he would be. Whilst undoubtedly a step forward, Tsunoda has only scored seven points for Red Bull in eight rounds, which is half the number Stake driver Nico Hulkenberg has earned in the past two rounds alone. It has put him under considerable pressure, not only to save his Red Bull seat, given he is out of contract at the end of the year, but also to ensure he is able to find a home in F1 at all come 2026. However, despite an ultimately disappointing Canadian Grand Prix, the 25-year-old began to show signs of improvement at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, following his qualifying crash at Imola a few rounds prior, something that substantially put him on the back foot. Although his underlying pace in Montreal was masked by his 10-place grid penalty, it provides Tsunoda a foundation to build upon, even if he did against finish outside the points. That upward trajectory continued in Austria. After enduring a difficult FP1 session, where he was P17, Tsunoda was seventh fastest in the second and final hour of running on Friday. "Yeah, I think it went in the right direction from FP1 to FP2," he said, reflecting on his afternoon at the Red Bull Ring. "Still missing bits, or maybe more, but at least I found a couple of positives. So we'll look for more." When asked if he felt he was building confidence in the RB21, Tsunoda agreed, explaining that it is the key to unlocking the desired performance from the hard-to-master car. "Yeah, definitely," the Japanese driver stated. "The confidence in the car, like this kind of track... attacking the very high speed, you need confidence. "So, with that, I think confidence in FP2 felt much better. That's all I need anyway, in the end. "I'm still learning about this car, and you need a good build-up. So, so far, I'm happy with this kind of approach. Just have to put it all together more [on Saturday]."