Tsunoda vows to bring ‘something different’ after Red Bull promotion

Yuki Tsunoda vowed on Thursday to bring “something different” to Red Bull after his sudden promotion ahead of his home Japanese Grand Prix this weekend.

The Japanese driver was catapulted into the Red Bull hot seat alongside four-time world champion Max Verstappen last week when he replaced the underperforming Liam Lawson two races into the season.

Tsunoda will make his Red Bull debut at Suzuka, with Lawson swapping places to return to sister team Racing Bulls (RB).

Tsunoda said Red Bulls chief Christian Horner had “clearly” told him that “their main priority is Max” but the Japanese racer is keen to make an impact in his own way.

“I’m not saying I’m confident that I can perform straight away like Max,” said Tsunoda, who is into his fifth F1 season and is yet to get on the podium.

“But I have confidence that I can do something different, hopefully, compared to other drivers.

“If I don’t have confidence, I’m not very good. I would stay at Racing Bulls,” the 24-year-old added.

Tsunoda said that he fully accepted that Verstappen was the team’s top priority.

“He’s a four-time world champion and so far already in the last few races, even in the car’s difficult situation, he still performed well,” said Tsunoda.

He added that his instructions from the team were to “be as close to Max as possible”.

Tsunoda was passed over for a Red Bull seat in favour of Lawson when Sergio Perez left at the end of last season.

Tsunoda said the decision was “brutal” for him but he accepted it at the time as part of life in the Red Bull organisation.

“We understand, I’m sure Liam understands as well how the situation can very quickly change within our structure,” he said.