‘Unfair’ to compare to Verstappen given different Red Bull F1 car

Red Bull has felt like a one-car – or at least one-driver – team for several years now as the second seat has been occupied by a rotating cast of individuals, who are granted a vanishingly small window to prove themselves before being fired or demoted. Four-time world champion Max Verstappen is clearly a once-in-a-generation talent, but it is difficult to measure anyone against him when they don’t have an equivalent car spec – especially one so tricky as the RB21.

Yuki Tsunoda, belatedly promoted from Racing Bulls to fill the seat when Liam Lawson – who had leapfrogged him in the Red Bull Junior Team queue – was dropped after two rounds, has finished in the top 10 just three times since his elevation. His part-season with Red Bull has been punctuated by high-profile mishaps such as his shunt in qualifying at Imola, in which he broke a brand-new floor.

But in Belgium last weekend, after receiving a more recent floor spec between the sprint race and qualifying, he reached Q3 for the first time since Miami. He then finished outside the top 10 again, but that was more a factor of Red Bull botching its communications and not calling him in for slicks until after he had passed the pit entry.

New boss Laurent Mekies said the team took responsibility for that one but some questions still linger. It emerged that even the ‘new’ floor was not of the same spec used by Verstappen – and, heading into the Hungary weekend, many elements of Tsunoda’s RB21 are still not the most recent, including the front wing.

“Missing the points is not ideal at all,” Tsunoda told reporters at the Hungaroring. “But one thing that helps me is definitely, with my engineering side, with my side of the garage, at least we know that there’s clear progress and a clear pace.”

Tsunoda does not face the axe until season’s end at the earliest, but one comparison all drivers face is the one with their team-mate. And the gulf between Tsunoda and Verstappen remains marked – traditionally Red Bull will tolerate the second driver being three tenths per lap off Verstappen on pure pace, but beyond that their future becomes less certain.

What’s interesting here is that Tsunoda has been on a journey from downplaying the difficulties of driving a peaky, inconsistent car – based on sim experience before he got in the real thing – to having to face the reality of being alongside one of the most ferocious competitors on the grid. And yet he still clings on to the hope of getting closer, given equal machinery.

“You know, how he [Verstappen] always extracts performance consistently every session, every grand prix, is very impressive,” said Tsunoda. “It’s not things that you can do very easily. And it seems like he can. It looks like he does it very easily.

“But at the same time, I just don’t think it’s fair to compare. And I don’t want to directly compare with him because he’s been here nine years in that car and I’m just jumping into the car.

“And also, I’m not – well, let’s see if I get exactly the same car. Until that point, I can’t compare directly.

“But until then, I’m just focused on myself because I know clearly what I can improve and I just progress in my own way, step by step.”

Given Mekies is understood to be more sympathetic to Tsunoda than Horner, based on their previous relationship at Racing Bulls, Tsunoda may get his wish sooner rather than later. And having a team principal from a solid engineering background, shorn of responsibilities for marketing and such, should ensure Yuki has the support he requires.

But can anyone seriously hope to match or beat Verstappen, given equal equipment? That is perhaps the most daunting task of all.