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.
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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.
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