Tsunoda opens up on the RB21's handling characteristics after simulator test

Just days ahead of his debut race weekend with Red Bull, Yuki Tsunoda has opened up on his sentiments regarding the RB21's handling characteristics following a two-day simulator session.

Following a difficult opening period to the season for Liam Lawson, Red Bull Racing have made the decision that from the 2025 Japan Grand Prix, Yuki Tsunoda will be promoted to the Milton Keynes-based outfit while the New Zealander will return to Racing Bulls.

Since the announcement, the Japanese driver has completed a second seat fit as he has already performed one earlier during the weekend which was necessary because he fulfils the role of reserve driver at Red Bull.

Tsunoda, who lives in Italy next to Racing Bull's Faenza headquarters, took part in a Honda event in its Aoyama headquarters where he said that he is welcoming the pressure associated with being Max Verstappen's team-mate and driving Red Bull's troublesome car.

"To be honest, I never expected to be racing for Red Bull at the Japanese Grand Prix. This is the final year of Red Bull and Honda’s partnership, so getting to race in Suzuka as a Red Bull Racing driver feels like fate. Everything has fallen into place in just the right way for me to be standing here today.

“Of course, I was happy about joining Red Bull, but when I thought about it carefully, the idea of suddenly racing for Red Bull at the Japanese Grand Prix felt so unreal.

Reflecting on his expectations, Tsunoda has revealed that he is dreaming of standing on the podium at his debut race with Red Bull.

"I don’t want to raise expectations too much, but for this Japanese Grand Prix, I want to finish on the podium. That said, I know it won’t be easy right from the start.

“My priority is to first understand the car, how it behaves compared to the VCARB. If I can naturally enjoy driving it as I get familiar with it in FP1, then the results will follow. And if that leads to a podium finish, that would be incredible.

Having conducted a two-day session in Red Bull's simulator, Tsunoda said that explained that he discovered the RB21 not to be “that challenging to drive”.

“I spent about two days in the simulator. From that experience, I didn’t find the car to be that challenging to drive. I definitely got the impression that the front-end is very responsive, as people often say.

“But if you ask whether it felt tricky to handle, I wouldn’t say it gave me a particularly strange feeling, at least in the simulator. Of course, how I want to set up the car is probably different from Max.

“I want to develop my own car set-up, get a good understanding of it, and gradually get up to speed from FP1.”