{"id":32277,"date":"2025-04-02T07:36:20","date_gmt":"2025-04-02T11:36:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/?p=32277"},"modified":"2025-04-02T10:30:04","modified_gmt":"2025-04-02T14:30:04","slug":"tsunoda-not-intimidated-by-different-rb21-after-first-indications","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2025\/04\/02\/tsunoda-not-intimidated-by-different-rb21-after-first-indications\/","title":{"rendered":"Tsunoda not intimidated by &#8220;different&#8221; RB21 after first indications"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Without any pre-season testing in the RB21, Yuki Tsunoda is essentially heading into this weekend&#8217;s Japanese GP blind. He only has three hours to familiarise himself with a <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2025\/04\/02\/helmut-marko-claims-newey-objected-to-promoting-tsunoda\/\" target=\"_self\">Red Bull<\/a> that is developing a notorious reputation for its handling.<\/p>\n<p>Tsunoda acknowledges the challenge he faces, and that simulator work is no substitute for track time.<\/p>\n<p>Still, the 24-year-old explains that <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2025\/03\/31\/yuki-tsunoda-gives-positive-feedback-after-rb21-simulator-session\/\" target=\"_self\">his first indications of the RB21<\/a> are not as negative as some might have feared.<\/p>\n<h2>Yuki Tsunoda optimistic about adapting at Red Bull<\/h2>\n<p>With more than four seasons of experience in Formula 1, Tsunoda has extensive running in various ground-effect cars.<\/p>\n<p>Although the consensus in F1 is that he deserved a promotion sooner, the last few seasons have provided a opportunity to prepare himself for <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2025\/03\/22\/verstappen-lawson-would-be-faster-in-the-vcarb\/\" target=\"_self\">the uniquely challenging RB21 machine<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>It was last December that Tsunoda first completed mileage in the RB20, last year&#8217;s Red Bull challenger.<\/p>\n<p>He was relatively positive after his post-season test in the RB20, arguing that its characteristics were suited to his driving style.<\/p>\n<p>Of course, Max Verstappen is capable of extracting performance from cars that his teammates struggle to tame.<\/p>\n<p>The question is whether Tsunoda has the speed and technical prowess to understand what the RB21 demands from a driver.<\/p>\n<p><a id=\"9l5CoPZ1Q_5i2AeXEnwzaA\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/2208076586\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'9l5CoPZ1Q_5i2AeXEnwzaA',sig:'0sjY7nbQGSezKJvV1bch5xDw__APmqDw5qnnL92arko=',w:'594px',h:'396px',items:'2208076586',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Speaking as an official Red Bull driver in Japan, he&#8217;s been transparent about his outlook:<\/p>\n<p><em>&#8220;The difference is last year&#8217;s car, [the RB20] I drove on the real track,&#8221; <\/em>he told <a href=\"https:\/\/www.the-race.com\/formula-1\/tsunoda-expected-red-bull-to-be-much-trickier-on-simulator\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">The Race<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><em>&#8220;But this time it was the simulator, and the simulator is always quite easy to handle the car more comfortably.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>&#8220;You don&#8217;t really need confidence, right? It&#8217;s kind of virtual &#8211; a bit of a difference there.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>&#8220;But I was expecting a lot more trickiness [with the RB21], because of how Liam struggled.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>&#8220;I&#8217;m sure it&#8217;s going to be very challenging, its a lot different a car to the Racing Bulls.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>&#8220;I just need to take it easy, just feel the car, but still definitely it will be challenging.&#8221;<\/em><\/p>\n<h4>Red Bull will hope to change the narrative<\/h4>\n<p>For at least two seasons, <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2025\/03\/31\/max-verstappen-exit-clauses-put-red-bull-under-pressure\/\" target=\"_self\">Max Verstappen<\/a> has secured the vast majority of points for Red Bull.<\/p>\n<p>Even putting aside Perez&#8217;s ultimately detrimental campaign last year, the Mexican driver was already significantly behind Verstappen in 2023.<\/p>\n<p>It was only Red Bull&#8217;s advantage over the other top teams that disguised Perez&#8217;s troubles &#8211; which were badly exposed twelve months ago.<\/p>\n<p>Regardless, Lawson&#8217;s nightmare start to the season has only reinforced the idea that Milton Keynes have developed cars with severe limitations that only Verstappen can handle.<\/p>\n<p><a id=\"ankt8JpCShpuY5pdUpD6gg\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/2207539269\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'ankt8JpCShpuY5pdUpD6gg',sig:'Kn7_7MAwO22Fe8zzTqv1ZZalIz0mUL0Vd4rSxca2Sx4=',w:'594px',h:'396px',items:'2207539269',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Because of this, there is additional incentive for Christian Horner&#8217;s trackside team to assist Tsunoda in any way possible.<\/p>\n<p>Should Tsunoda fail to compete with the other front-runners, the evidence against the RB21 &#8211; and Red Bull&#8217;s development more broadly &#8211; will be damming.<\/p>\n<p>Having fought consistently fought for the top 10 at the Australian and Chinese GP (with <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2025\/04\/02\/why-both-vcarb-drivers-are-under-growing-pressure\/\" target=\"_self\">VCARB<\/a>) the #22 driver is undoubtedly capable of competing at the sharp end.<\/p>\n<p>This puts all the pressure on Red Bull to prove that Verstappen&#8217;s brilliance is not their only solution to the RB21&#8217;s deficiencies.<\/p>\n<p>Tsunoda is confident and in fine form, with his experience putting him in a better position than any other Red Bull junior to acclimatise at the main team.<\/p>\n<p>Now is perhaps the last chance Christian Horner&#8217;s team will have before 2026 to demonstrate they can have two cars battling with <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2025\/04\/01\/ferrari-prepare-first-upgrade-package-of-2025\/\" target=\"_self\">Ferrari<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2025\/03\/31\/are-mercedes-poised-to-take-f1-by-storm-in-2026\/\" target=\"_self\">Mercedes<\/a> and McLaren.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Without any pre-season testing in the RB21, Yuki Tsunoda is essentially heading into this weekend&#8217;s Japanese GP blind. He only has three hours to familiarise himself with a Red Bull that is developing a notorious reputation for its handling. Tsunoda acknowledges the challenge he faces, and that simulator work is no substitute for track time. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4927,"featured_media":32280,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,3],"tags":[2452,78,2246],"class_list":["post-32277","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-formula-1","category-news","tag-f1-2025-season","tag-red-bull-racing","tag-vcarb"],"modified_by":"Jaden Diaz-Ndisang","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32277","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4927"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32277"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32277\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32286,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32277\/revisions\/32286"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32280"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32277"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32277"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32277"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}