Yuki Tsunoda: I feel like I’m getting better and better

Yuki Tsunoda believes he now has more reasons to be satisfied with his results than in previous years of Formula 1 performance.

The Japanese driver made his world championship debut in 2021 and summarised the first part of the season in an interview with RacingNews365, noting that things went well overall.

“I am more satisfied with my results now than in previous seasons, that’s for sure,” Tsunoda said. – Although many things can be better, there is no denying that, but everything is going well.

“Of course I made a mistake in Montreal and missed the chance to earn points. It wasn’t worth doing. In Bahrain it didn’t go well either, but these are the moments where I can correct myself.”

In the very first phase of the season, held in Bahrain, the team asked Tsunoda to let Daniel Ricciardo, his Visa RB teammate, continue. This happened in the final phase of the race, but Tsunoda was in no hurry to follow the team’s instructions, objected and did not hide his dissatisfaction during radio conversations.

As a result, he still let the Australian pass, but he had no time to compete with the leading Kevin Magnussen and Guanyu Zhou. However, after completing the return lap to the pits, Tsunoda almost caused a collision with Ricciardo, which resulted in justified criticism.

But then Yuki gradually improved, so that everyone quickly forgot about that episode, and now he has almost twice as many points as his partner.

“Silverstone was a race where we didn’t expect to score points, but of course the rain helped us a bit because the weather was changeable and we were able to finish in the top ten despite difficult conditions and a difficult situation,” Tsunoda continued. “I feel like I’m doing better and better, that I’m on the right track.

“If I remember my first two seasons in F1, I don’t think I could have scored points in that situation.”

The Japanese driver’s progress this year has been so evident that many are puzzled as to why Red Bull Racing won’t make him Max Verstappen’s teammate, as Sergio Perez is clearly not living up to the expectations placed on him. Tsunoda’s contract has been extended until the end of next year at least, as was announced during the Canadian race weekend, and he will remain with Visa RB for at least one more season. However, the name of his partner for next year has not yet been announced.