2025 Oracle Red Bull Racing F1 Team

[Cs98]

I don’t want to raise expectations too much, but for this Japanese Grand Prix, I want to finish on the podium. That said, I know it won’t be easy right from the start.

My priority is to first understand the car, how it behaves compared to the VCARB. If I can naturally enjoy driving it as I get familiar with it in FP1, then the results will follow. And if that leads to a podium finish, that would be incredible.

He doesn't lack confidence Though I might be more guarded with my expectations if I were him, given where Lawson has been qualifying. I think qualifying top 12 and scoring points might be a more realistic "success" target for Tsunoda his first race.

[ispano6]

It's all about perception and you're really judged as being as good as you were in your last race. Hulk has never been on the podium, Perez went from zero to hero in a pink car and was out of contract. If your garage has confidence in you, they will listen to you

With Yuki, his tantrums didn't impress some upper management and that automatically led to ill perceptions of him. To add to that he had undoubtedly some frustration with the operating competency of the team and could see it. He knew he was faster than Ric but said it in the wrong way, his inconsistency and mistakes were the result of pushing too much or his team not giving him the best set ups to his liking. He still makes some mistakes in Q3 that he needs to work on. It's telling that he said that he made the sales pitch of the RB20 more suiting his style and Lawson said the same. Yuki just needs to be humble about it and feel the car and find a balance that doesn't make him feel he's going to get thrown out of a corner. And Red Bull should listen to his feedback and try to bring the RB21 closer to the VCARB that he helped develop.

We'll see soon how he handles the car but also the smaller changes RedBull makes before the big package update. The nose, front endplates and engine cover should be revised IMO. Get the bull ram to be more toned like a deer or at least a young and fit charger.

[ringo]

https://pbs.twimg.com/card_img/19062653 ... me=360x360
.

Speaking in public for the first time since the move was announced at a Honda event in its Aoyama headquarters, Tsunoda said the switch felt “'unreal” but he is still highly ambitious for his debut.

"To be honest, I never expected to be racing for Red Bull at the Japanese Grand Prix," Tsunoda said.

"This is the final year of Red Bull and Honda’s partnership, so getting to race in Suzuka as a Red Bull Racing driver feels like fate. Everything has fallen into place in just the right way for me to be standing here today.

“Of course, I was happy about joining Red Bull, but when I thought about it carefully, the idea of suddenly racing for Red Bull at the Japanese Grand Prix felt so unreal.

"I don’t want to raise expectations too much, but for this Japanese Grand Prix, I want to finish on the podium. That said, I know it won’t be easy right from the start.

“My priority is to first understand the car, how it behaves compared to the VCARB. If I can naturally enjoy driving it as I get familiar with it in FP1, then the results will follow. And if that leads to a podium finish, that would be incredible."

Tsunoda has never driven the RB21, so making his debut in Japan could be labelled a poisoned chalice. But the 24-year-old says he is embracing the enormous pressure that comes with the seat, despite its history of chewing up drivers.

"When I first got the call, I thought: 'Wow, this is going to be interesting,'" he said. "More than anything, I’m excited about the challenge ahead.

“There aren’t many moments in life where you face this kind of extreme pressure and an opportunity as big as this, so I can only imagine that it’s going to be an incredibly thrilling race.
Yuki Tsunoda at the Red Bull Showrun Taichung

"At first, I was too busy to even take the time to fully appreciate the excitement. I had to jump straight into the simulator, do seat fittings, and take care of a lot of other preparations.

“Of course, getting promoted to Red Bull is an amazing opportunity, but before anything else, I wanted to talk to my engineers and the people who had supported me. So, despite all the emotions, I actually felt quite calm.

"Since I was a reserve driver this year, I had already done a seat fitting before. But back then, I remember thinking: 'Why am I even doing this? I’m not going to be racing anyway.'"

From his simulator time, Tsunoda said he didn't find this year’s Red Bull "that challenging to drive", although he admitted his comments on last year's car - which he tested in Abu Dhabi - suiting his driving style was "a bit of a sales pitch" to Red Bull.

"I spent about two days in the simulator. From that experience, I didn’t find the car to be that challenging to drive," he explained.

"I definitely got the impression that the front-end is very responsive, as people often say. But if you ask whether it felt tricky to handle, I wouldn’t say it gave me a particularly strange feeling, at least in the simulator.

"Of course, how I want to set up the car is probably different from Max. I want to develop my own car set-up, get a good understanding of it, and gradually get up to speed from FP1."

I am really anticipating this weekend just from reading Yuki's words. I hope he doesnt get complacement and get's wiped out. Or be too arogant and take the car to where it just doesnt work. He needs to understand why Max chooses to go in the direction that he goes in the rb21. My gut feeling has been that RB21 is not hard to drive, but hard to manage to keep in the window. Yuki best not overcook it in any of the sessions.
A podium is not possible. 2 Mclarens, Russel or Max. There is no room for Yuk unless he is going to betray all expectations and channel the ancient Samurai spirits.

[ringo]

As for the Hulk option. Hulk was and is never going to be a good option for any top team.
It's not bad luck or coincidence that he has never got a podium. Hulk just does not have good race craft or a racing brain. He has raw speed since his Williams debut, but has forgetable racing.
The yuki snub last year was being supported by many on this forum. I am suprised at all the common sense being shared now that he was selected. Only a handful of members could see objectively that Yuki was the better choice.
I wont say it's prejudiced against Yuki's ethnicity by Marko. I think Redbull is more surface level than that. It's a combination of personality and speed. They want a marketable personality that has a cool factor that js compatible with european culture and markets and they also want a "goldilocks" level of speed. Fast enough to support Max, but not too fast to challenge him. Perez was perfect until his performances degraded ( Not his fault, the car just got tricky). Yuki I am betting, and I have hinted before, will make Max uncomfortable in qualifying. That's the most logical reason why he was not selectes over Lawson. All other theories are too complex and land far wide of the mark.

[venkyhere]

one thing I don't agree with Dr. Marko, he basically said "We didn't choose Yuki after Abu Dhabi test because he still had ups and downs, but now he's a stable driver" how can you possibly assess a driver's stability in just two race time period ? in my book, stability means a longer period than just two races....

DId you expect the geriatric to talk sensibly ? Did you think he will admit that Redbull's 'evaluation of drivers' is a farce ? They get lucky once in a while with talent spotting (for eg, Vettel, Max); but most of the time, they discover only average drivers. And even then, they are impatient ; and only if the driver comes with a fat sponsorship, will they show patience and even too much patience.

They make fast cars, no doubt. However, I don't think there has ever been a 'technical coach' to the drivers in this team, and all the things they've done, since the Perez downfall began, has been knee-jerk, nothing that resembles a team having their own 'driver program'. The cliche statement "F1 is not a finishing school" , is bulls##t; and Redbull have taken it literally.

"I don’t want to raise expectations too much, but for this Japanese Grand Prix, I want to finish on the podium. That said, I know it won’t be easy right from the start.

Why do new-age drivers have such big mouths ? Walking the walk is more important than talking the talk.

[TeamKoolGreen]

That's quite the update.

So Newey and a few engineers had a veto on promoting Tsunoda. (that is a door closed for Tsunoda at Aston) Verstappen and Horner preferred to stick with Lawson. But with Newey gone, Helmut has the power to overrule everyone on driver moves. So Tsunoda gets promoted. With some support of Yoovidhya family. Who are normally on team Horner. And Helmut is making these moves while implying that he and Max could be out the door if things don't go well with the car. At the same time, Horner seems to be repairing things with Austria.

Why in the world would Newey have had a veto on Tsunoda for 2025? He left the team in early 2024. Put some critical thought into it, don't just accept the speculation of some rag.

Marko said clearly that the decision to put Lawson in, and then take him out, came unanimously from management. They agreed on it together.

I never said 2025. But clearly , Newey had a role in Tsunoda not going to Red Bull in the last 2 years.

Newey originally left Williams because they would give him no say on drivers. He joined Red Bull because Horner gave him a say on drivers. So it stands to reason that he will have some say on drivers at Aston Martin. If he didn't want Tsunoda at the top team at Red Bull, why would he want him at Aston 2 years later ?

[TeamKoolGreen]

Maybe, just maybe, they actually had real reservations about Tsunoda because he has been up and down for a long time.

And the perfect answer to that problem was promoting the guy who hadn’t finished a full season in F1 yet and didn’t even beat Yuki because reasons I guess.

Liam beat Tsunoda in his first 4 starts in 2023. And then there's the junior record. Why is it surprising that a driver settled at one team for 4 years beat Lawson in 11 starts ? Lawson was not far away and also beat Perez in Mexico and out qualified Max in Singapore. He started 10th, finished 9th. Yuki started 15th and did not finish.

There's also the factor that a driver not used to one style of car would do better in the Red Bull than the one who was settled in one of the easier cars to drive in the field for 4 years. Park the petty racism charge.

[Sergej]

[ispano6]

Maybe, just maybe, they actually had real reservations about Tsunoda because he has been up and down for a long time.

And the perfect answer to that problem was promoting the guy who hadn’t finished a full season in F1 yet and didn’t even beat Yuki because reasons I guess.

Liam beat Tsunoda in his first 4 starts in 2023. And then there's the junior record. Why is it surprising that a driver settled at one team for 4 years beat Lawson in 11 starts ? Lawson was not far away and also beat Perez in Mexico and out qualified Max in Singapore. He started 10th, finished 9th. Yuki started 15th and did not finish.

There's also the factor that a driver not used to one style of car would do better in the Red Bull than the one who was settled in one of the easier cars to drive in the field for 4 years. Park the petty racism charge.

The only reason Liam "beat" Yuki was because Liam was so aggressive that he attempted to run Yuki off the road, like he did Checo, at their home races. Yuki backed off not allowing Liam to take him out in his home race. We saw Liam collide with two cars in China and clearly showed the Red Bull group his true style. Not at all a mature drive and much to learn. Liam didn't contribute much constructor points compared to Yuki and was promoted on prejudice and preconceived notions. Newey could be proven wrong and can have a change in heart, he's doesn't come off as a jaded person. Regardless, AMR is a different team and a different dynamic and their drivers are locked in. Honda will look to supply other teams, maybe even Haas or Williams in the future. Sainz could end up at AMR or so could Bortoletto. Yuki now has the opportunity to use his Red Bull stint to springboard him into another team or stay in the family if he can impress. Red Bull could drop Ford especially if they don't stick with Lawson and maybe use some of Honda's hybrid or battery technology in a few years if theirs isn't up to par.

[ringo]

I think they can delay Ford for 2026 and stick with Honda. Yuki in the car will pull Honda to provide engines.
Racing Bulls can have the ford engine to experiment with.
This happened when Honda came to Redbull. They junior team was the guinea pig. After 1 year of torro Rosso running the Honda the big Team saw enough proof that the engine was good enouh for them.

[Sergej]

first image of the special livery

https://x.com/MateuszMrz8/status/1906598682813764050

[Wouter]

Yuki at the headquarters of Honda:

"If you ask if he [RB21] is difficult to drive, I don't think the car gave me a strange feeling. At least not in the simulator.
Of course, how I want to set up the car is probably different to how Max wants it. I want to develop my own set-up of the car,
get a good understanding of it and gradually get up to speed from the first practice."

He has a lot of fans all over the world. I wish him good luck!

Twitter text translated into English as requested:

F1 Japanese Grand Prix in cherry blossom season!
[Congratulations to Tsunoda-san on his long-awaited promotion to Red Bull! !!! !!!]

Second message:
I still can't believe it
This isn't a fake, right?
It's an undeniable fact, right?
In what manga is it that the #22 RB21's debut race is at Suzuka, its home turf...?
I'm too shaken to speak, butCongratulations to Tsunoda-kun on your long-awaited promotion to Red Bull!!!
I've been waiting for this moment for years!!!

[organic]

[euv2]

They absolutely cooked with this livery,
https://x.com/redbullracing/status/1906952165341667415

[Sergej]

Its stunning