.Tsunoda’s long-term prospects at Red Bull unclear
It is now well-established that Helmut Marko and Christian Horner have different opinions on Yuki his potential.
Marko is far more confident in Tsunoda’s abilities than Horner, who typically overlooks the 24-year-old as a candidate to partner Max Verstappen at Red Bull.
.....................
In a recent interview, Marko reiterated that Yuki Tsunoda should not be discounted as a contender for promotion. He explained that the Milton Keynes squad will look internally – rather than elsewhere on the grid – for drivers.
“Now we are focusing on our juniors,” he told formel1.de. “We see this with Colapinto, for example.
“He was relatively inexperienced and not very successful in junior series – although it has to be said he never had the best teams. But what an incredible performance he is putting in now.
“And now let’s see what our juniors – or even a Yuki Tsunoda can do. He can also be described as a junior.
“But as a I mentioned earlier, how does he [Tsunoda] compare to Lawson?”
Over the course of 2024, it has become increasingly clear that Marko’s influence in Red Bull’s decision-making has declined.
The 81-year-old, for example, wanted to replace Daniel Ricciardo far earlier in the season – only for Christian Horner to delay his eventual swap with Liam Lawson.
It is plausible that Tsunoda delivers strong performances relative to Lawson in the upcoming months.
However, as was the case against De Vries and Ricciardo, it is possible that Tsunoda’s results will do little to convince Horner he deserves a promotion.
I don't think it means that Ricciardo wasn't supposed to have a 2024 contract. I think Ricciardo's target was to do enough to move to Red Bull by midseason. He didn't do enough to get out of the way of the Lawson train.PlatinumZealot wrote: ↑Mon Oct 07, 2024 2:59 amThe reason for rushing in Lawson is all contractural they say.
That means Ricciardo was never meant to have a 2024 contract, but after missing a few races in 2023 he was given a huge favour, another chance to see if he could replace Perez in the senior team. In essence Lawson should have continued from 2023 into 2024. So Ricciardo's time was always limited.
Tsunoda back in the race for Red Bull cockpit
Sergio Perez continues to worry about his Red Bull cockpit. Now there is even a threat from Yuki Tsunoda.
October 10, 2024
Red Bull chief advisor Helmut Marko (81) to F1-Insider.com: "Tsunoda is a candidate to drive alongside Max in 2025. The remaining races of this season will decide what our driver pairings will look like for next year."
In other words: Anything is possible, including that Verstappen's teammate Sergio Perez will have to vacate his cockpit at the world champion team.
One thing is certain: New Zealander Liam Lawson (22), who will replace the fired Australian Daniel Ricciardo at the Racing Bulls from the next race, will have a kind of elimination race against Tsunoda. Whoever performs better becomes a candidate for Red Bull.
Then it will be decided whether Perez's performance was good enough to give the 34-year-old Mexican another year alongside the Flying Dutchman. But Marko already has a clear favorite. "I can very well imagine a junior driver driving alongside Max." So Tsunoda or Lawson.
Marko explains: "We decided to compare Lawson and Tsunoda. They have the same material, the same conditions and each now has six races to prove that he is the better one."
As I predicted some days ago, it does indeed a shootout between Yuki and Liam.Dunlay wrote: ↑Fri Sep 27, 2024 3:24 amIt seems like it's now a race between Liam and Yuki for 2025 Red Bull seat. With Sauber having locked Bottas, they have few young drivers available to hire next year. Hadjar, Colapinto and Bartoleto. If Liam or Yuki moves to Red Bull, then one of these three would be target for VCARB.
With Oscar's rise and Ollie and Colapinto having demonstrated how ready the new breed is and with so many new drivers joining the grid next year, Red Bull is now forced to test their bench strength.
Horner is the team principal, of course he has a role in driver decisions. If Mateschitz were alive, this would not have been tolerated with Pérez, where they handed him a contract extension during his struggles. Before, Pérez would have been sacked a long time ago because the Red Bull organization was a pure performance-related organization. When Horner was in a scandal, people were neutral, except Pérez, who defended Horner, perhaps because his contract was expiring. After Mateschitz's death, Horner has gained more of a role in the organization, and Helmut has hated (for example, racism) Pérez since his struggles began last year and has been eager to sack him. It's the team principal's decision to give Pérez a contract extension.Bill wrote:sponsorship money will save perez not Horner
the team principal didnt save Riccardo even when he wanted to.i head Horner lashing out on the media when they put it to him that Lawson will drive for vcarb,and his response was where are you going to put him. Marko have been upfront and i turn to believe him. The redbull management may like the money perez bring so if they fix the car and he improve then he is likely to keep his seat else anything is possible.Jurgen von Diaz wrote: ↑Mon Oct 14, 2024 10:19 amHorner is the team principal, of course he has a role in driver decisions. If Mateschitz were alive, this would not have been tolerated with Pérez, where they handed him a contract extension during his struggles. Before, Pérez would have been sacked a long time ago because the Red Bull organization was a pure performance-related organization. When Horner was in a scandal, people were neutral, except Pérez, who defended Horner, perhaps because his contract was expiring. After Mateschitz's death, Horner has gained more of a role in the organization, and Helmut has hated (for example, racism) Pérez since his struggles began last year and has been eager to sack him. It's the team principal's decision to give Pérez a contract extension.Bill wrote:sponsorship money will save perez not Horner
