formula 1
Fears at the home race: Tsunoda is fighting for a regular place
There is a three-way battle for two regular places with Liam Lawson and Daniel Ricciardo: Yuki Tsunoda. photo
© Hasan Bratic/dpa
Red Bull’s B team has a luxury problem. One that the Japanese Yuki Tsunoda could suffer from. After Liam Lawson’s strong performances, a three-way battle for the two regular places has broken out.
At his home Formula 1 race in Suzuka, of all places Yuki Tsunoda is practically on probation.
According to the latest results with Red Bull’s B-Team Alpha Tauri, the 23-year-old is in a three-way battle with the strong substitute Liam Lawson and the currently injured regular driver Daniel Ricciardo for the two regular places for the coming year. Managing director Peter Bayer made this clear before the Japanese Grand Prix this weekend.
“At the moment all three are actually in the fight,” Bayer told the TV channel Sky. “Of course we have a certain idea of what it could ideally be like, but at the moment we’re leaving that open.”
It is unclear to what extent Red Bull’s second cockpit alongside Max Verstappen could play a role. The team bosses recently assured that the Mexican Sergio Pérez will continue to drive for the racing team next year in accordance with his contract. There have been changes at Red Bull even during the season despite valid working papers. Just like in 2016, when Verstappen was promoted from Alpha Tauri predecessor Toro Rosso and Daniil Kvyat had to return to the cockpit of the B team.
Lawson is pushing for a regular place
The Japanese Tsunoda and the 21-year-old New Zealander Lawson are currently driving for Alpha Tauri. Ricciardo suffered fractures to his hand in a training accident in Zandvoort and is not yet able to compete in Japan. The 34-year-old Australian, a former Red Bull regular driver, replaced the disappointing Dutchman Nyck de Vries at Alpha Tauri before the summer break.
“It’s not confirmed yet, but I don’t know either, to be honest,” said Tsunoda about his still unresolved contract situation.
With his strong performance and ninth place on his debut on the demanding circuit in Singapore last Sunday, the actual replacement driver Lawson fueled speculation about a regular place next year.
“Liam Lawson continues to push for a regular place in Formula 1 in the 2024 season,” wrote the New Zealand Herald. “It’s difficult to get a cockpit in this sport. But instead of all the outside things, I focus on each session, always trying to maximize everything and show what I can do in the car,” said Lawson himself.