Yuki Tsunoda prefers not to be compared with his more experienced teammate Max Verstappen just yet. The Japanese driver is set to compete in his twelfth race for the Austrians in Hungary, but has been waiting for a top-ten finish for six races now. Although Tsunoda has been driving with the same floor as the four-time world champion since the Belgian GP, his RB21 is not quite the same as Verstappen’s. “Once it is, then I can compare myself to him,” says Tsunoda.
Despite achieving his best qualifying result as a Red Bull driver in Belgium – a seventh place – the weekend at Spa-Francorchamps once again yielded no World Championship points for the Japanese driver. Tsunoda is just the latest in a series of Verstappen’s teammates who have struggled to compete with the world champion. Pierre Gasly, Alexander Albon, Sergio Pérez, and Liam Lawson have all preceded him.
Tsunoda is also impressed by his fast teammate. “He is clearly the best driver on the grid at the moment,” the Japanese driver says in Hungary. “The way he always gets everything out of the car, every session and every race weekend, is impressive. It’s hard to do, but he can do it, and he does it easily.” Therefore, the Japanese driver does not really want to be directly compared to Verstappen. “It’s not really fair to compare us, and I don’t want to.”
Unfair Comparison
The newest Red Bull driver also immediately explains why a comparison between the two is unfair. “Because he has been in the Red Bull car for nine years,” Tsunoda continues. “And I’ve only been in it for a short time.” The Japanese driver also does not have exactly the same car as the four-time world champion. “Once that is the case, then I can compare myself to him. But until then, I’m just focusing on myself. I know the areas where I can still improve.” Tsunoda has been Verstappen’s teammate since the end of March, after he replaced the struggling Liam Lawson from the Japanese GP onwards.
