There are no excuses for Yuki Tsunoda in 2023. After a turbulent first two years at AlphaTauri, the Japanese driver entered the current season with a new team-mate and a long list of Red Bull and Honda talents looking to seize his seat for 2024.
But despite the threats to his chances of remaining in F1 beyond the current year, Tsunoda has created a strong case for a contract extension after the opening rounds as he has shone under the early-season pressure.
Tsunoda made the step up to F1 in 2021, immediately turning heads at pre-season testing in Bahrain as he occupied one of the top times of the test (albeit with extensive DRS use) and finished ninth in his maiden race at the circuit. The anticipation only grew after the opening round as to how the then 20-year-old would perform in F1 after his rapid and successful junior career.
Tsunoda, however, quickly became known as a driver that lacked consistency and at times gained the reputation as the hothead of the paddock sue to multitude of heated radio messages being broadcast to fans during coverage.
His stellar performance in Bahrain in 2021 was quickly forgotten with a Q1 crash at Imola, then falling far behind Pierre Gasly in Portugal, retiring from the Spanish GP and even more blunders that followed in his rookie season.
After moving closer to the AlphaTauri HQ in Frenza from Milton Keynes, in a bid to improve performance, Tsunoda’s second season in Formula 1 was more successful and he moved closer overall to team-mate Gasly, but still fell short on points.
Tsunoda began the 2023 season with his seat under threat like never before. The pressure to perform against a mature and confident F1 rookie in Nyck de Vries could have proven to be an issue for the Japanese driver in the opening rounds – but this has, so far, not been the case.
Perhaps being under the spotlight of the media in his rookie season has helped him deal with the pressure more easily today, but it’s clear that AlphaTauri is pleased with his performances at the opening rounds as he repeatedly outperformed De Vries.
In the first three qualifying sessions, Tsunoda sent a strong message. The 22-year-old was seven, three and over two-tenths faster in qualifying than his Formula E World Champion team-mate.
The gap between the two was evident in the first three races, as Tsunoda picked up one point in Australia after two P11 finishes in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. De Vries struggled further down the order and fell foul of the late-race Melbourne chaos.
Dutchman De Vries would have been hoping to take advantage of Tsunoda’s lack of consistency in the opening rounds but, with his progress, Tsunoda is now impressing team boss Franz Tost who declared that he would be “ready” for Red Bull in 2025 when he would replace Sergio Perez, after another season with the sister team.
Admittedly, it is far too early to discuss potential 2025 line-ups, as even 2024 is still uncertain. Tsunoda currently holds a contract through 2023 but maintaining his newfound consistency will certainly help secure an extension with the Red Bull sister team.
Ultimately, with AlphaTauri’s lacking performance this year, what will characterise Tsunoda’s season will be how he ends the season in comparison to Nyck de Vries.
Outside of his immediate stable-mate, there are threats elsewhere. Every year there are fresh stars looking for seats in F1 and this is no more the case than for the Red Bull and Honda juniors this season with six juniors competing in Formula 2 and two in Formula 3 level championships.
Tsunoda has had ties to Honda since 2016, through the Honda Formula Dream Project, and in 2019 he received Red Bull backing a year after AlphaTauri began to use a Honda power unit.
While in recent years Red Bull’s talents have failed to make an impact, in 2023, Red Bull and Honda-backed driver Ayumu Iwasa currently leads the Formula 2 championship after reigning triumphant in the Melbourne Feature Race, his fourth victory in Formula 2.
Iwasa is, for certain, the standout driver of the opening three rounds. He currently holds a nine-point lead in the championship over second-placed Sauber Academy driver, Theo Pourchaire, who had an incident-packed start to the season before securing 18 points and a P2 finish in the Melbourne Feature Race.
Red Bull’s standard for drivers to progress to F1 is high. Just last year Liam Lawson was denied a seat in F1 despite finishing third in the 2022 championship. Lawson headed for Super Formula instead, where he wasted no time reaching the top step of the podium in the opening round with Team Mugen at the Fuji Speedway.
Only time will tell whether Iwasa, Lawson or another Red Bull protégé are able to grip onto an F1 seat in 2024 but if Tsunoda is able to continue his consistent pace throughout the season, he can rest easy that he will be retained beyond the current campaign.
Keyword: Under pressure to perform Tsunoda has finally found his rhythm