Earning praise from Red Bull Racing supremo Helmut Marko is never easy, but Visa Cash App RB driver Yuki Tsunoda appears to have overcome some of the problems he had been dealing with earlier on in his Formula 1 career.
The Japanese driver is entering his fourth season with the team and has started the 2024 campaign very strongly.
Speaking to Speedweek after RB secured their best result of the season, Marko shared exactly what the 23-year-old has been improved on this year.
Helmut Marko praises Yuki Tsunoda for overcoming problems
Few drivers have had a more positive start to this season than Yuki Tsunoda.
All eyes were on his teammate Daniel Ricciardo to see if he could put Sergio Perez under pressure for his Red Bull seat.
The Australian was even tipped to challenge for a few podiums this season, but things haven’t gone to plan for the 34-year-old.
Instead, it appears as though Tsunoda is the team’s best hope of scoring points this season.
He was ahead of Ricciardo in Bahrain before giving up the position and beat the Australian in Jeddah as well.
While the eight-time race winner couldn’t get out of Q1 at his home race, Tsunoda made it to the top-ten shootout and comfortably finished eighth in the race to be best of the rest.
Fernando Alonso’s penalty promoted Tsunoda to seventh and his performance was described as ‘outstanding’.
Marko thought Tsunoda was faultless in Melbourne and has suggested he’s overcome the problems that used to plague his displays in the past.
As he enters the final year of his contract, he’s doing his hopes of extending his time in Formula 1 no harm after the first three races of the campaign.
Helmut Marko explains Tsunoda’s improvements after Australian Grand Prix
Talking about Tsunoda, Marko said: Daniel’s speed has improved, but Yuki is riding at a very high level at the moment – and remains faultless.
“Franz Tost and I have always believed in him, his speed has always been beyond doubt for us.
“His problems were his lack of control, outbursts and susceptibility to mistakes. All that is gone this season.
“Yuki came to Europe very young and that is very, very hard for a Japanese [driver]. It’s a completely different life with us. But now things are going well and Yuki is being recognised on the driver market.”
Tsunoda could end up with new RB teammate before the end of 2024 season
The Yuki Tsunoda-Daniel Ricciardo combination is a dream for RB’s marketers but isn’t delivering the intended results on the track.
The Japanese driver is producing his best performances in Formula 1 while his teammate continues to work on getting the best out of the car.
Ricciardo’s search for pace won’t be helped by the fact that he’s giving up his car to Ayumu Iwasa in FP1 in Suzuka, giving him one hour less than his teammate to figure out why he can’t extract as much speed out of the car as the 23-year-old.
Liam Lawson’s management team have denied that the Kiwi is being lined up to replace Ricciardo soon.
However, the reports suggesting Ricciardo could lose his seat imminently are never a good sign even if they’re slightly wide of the mark.
While RB try and help Ricciardo rediscover his best form, Marko and the rest of the Red Bull group can take solace from the fact that Tsunoda appears to have found solutions to the problems he was previously facing.
The post ‘All that is gone’: Helmut Marko now shares the three ‘problems’ Yuki Tsunoda has fixed this season appeared first on F1 Oversteer.