Yuki Tsunoda failed to score points for Red Bull during the past race weekend in Monaco. Since being promoted to the main team during the GP of Japan, he has only finished in the top ten three times. He admitted to lacking confidence in the car ahead of the Spanish GP. He highlighted the differences with the VCARB cars he is used to and indicated that he needs more time in the unpredictable RB21.
“It’s all about building confidence,” Tsunoda said during the official FIA press conference in Barcelona. “Understanding the car still takes some time, but it’s starting to come. Finding those last milliseconds, that’s incredibly precise. As soon as the track gets a bit faster, you want to be able to set the balance perfectly, but for that, you need to understand the car. It comes down to experience – over the past four years (at AlphaTauri, later Racing Bulls), I knew exactly how the car would react. Then you can naturally drive harder.”
“That will come back naturally,” continued an optimistic Tsunoda. “Especially Imola made me realize how little I still understand the car.” The Japanese driver regretted a hard crash in the first qualifying round. It cost him a good starting position and several important upgrades. In the end, he scored one World Championship point for Red Bull. “It’s not that I’ve lost my confidence, I just need to build it up slowly,” he concluded.
