Visa Cash App RB driver Yuki Tsunoda says there’s one thing about the 2024 F1 season he’s finding ‘very scary’.
Tsunoda qualified 10th for his home race in Japan on Saturday, once again beating teammate Daniel Ricciardo.
But speaking to Sky Sports F1 after the session, he opened up one of the challenges he’s facing this year.
Tsunoda reached Q3 for the third consecutive race, though he didn’t have the speed to match the drivers ahead of him in the shoot-out.
He narrowly pipped teammate Ricciardo to the final spot in the session, out-pacing him by around six hundredths of a second in Q2.
Tsunoda now leads the qualifying head-to-head between the two drivers 4-0.
He’s also scored all six of the team’s points so far this year after finishing seventh last time out in Australia.
Yuki Tsunoda makes ‘scary’ admission about F1 midfield
Tsunoda says the ‘tight’ nature of the midfield battle in the early rounds of the season has been daunting.
RB, Haas, Williams, Sauber and Alpine are all fairly closely matched behind the top five teams.
The 10 drivers across those teams are under pressure to maximise any opportunities for points when those in front of them falter.
Tsunoda’s haul in Australia was enough to promote RB to sixth in the standings, while Haas are the only other member of the quintet to score (three).
Up to this point, the 23-year-old has been able to put together solid weekends to boost ‘confidence’ levels at the Red Bull junior team.
“This tight midfield – it’s very scary,” he said. “At the same time, we’re consistently able to be in the top 10 from free practice, and I think it gives the team slightly more confidence.
“I think that gives us better teamwork in the end. I’ll just keep doing what I’m doing and then see how it goes in the future.”
Tsunoda impressing at RB this season
Tsunoda, who has previously gone up against Pierre Gasly, Nyck de Vries and Liam Lawson, is facing the most accomplished teammate of his career this year.
Ricciardo, who’s 11 years older, has won eight Grands Prix in his career and stood on the podium 32 times.
It’s their full season alongside one another after the team elected to drop De Vries midway through last year.
But thus far, it’s Tsunoda who has unexpectedly been the dominant driver in the internal battle.
He credits Ricciardo with helping him to improve his ‘Monsters Inc’ temperament behind the wheel.
Sebastian Vettel, who started out at the same team, says his improvement since the beginning of 2023 has been ‘great’ to see.
Journalist Edd Straw feels that he’s made himself look like an ‘interesting wildcard’ in the 2025 F1 driver market.
Tsunoda is out of contract at the end of the year but looks sure to be offered an extension after Red Bull director Helmut Marko’s recent praise.
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