Yuki Tsunoda has elaborated on his recent upswing in performance at Red Bull Racing F1 , pinpointing a combination of a significant car setup change and a revitalised relationship with Team Principal, Laurent Mekies as key factors.
The Japanese driver explained that a breakthrough during the Azerbaijan Grand Prix weekend was the culmination of adjustments to his driving style and crucial technical input that made the car feel more familiar.
This progress follows a period of adaptation for Tsunoda, who noted that he has been working to evolve his approach behind the wheel by learning from his highly successful teammate, Max Verstappen.
Baku Breakthrough a Combination of Factors
Speaking about his progress, Tsunoda confirmed that a major setup adjustment was implemented on his car in Baku—a change he had been requesting for some time.
He explained that this, combined with his own development, created a noticeable improvement.
“The thing we changed into the Baku was quite big,” Tsunoda stated. “It’s quite big, but yeah, something I wanted to change since quite a long time… we are able to… Well, I got support with that and I think team finally, you know, maybe have a bit more time to change those things. And we changed it and it got better”.
He also acknowledged that his personal efforts were a vital part of the equation. “I think also driving style I tried to change, which comes together quite well at the same time,” he added.
“I learned a lot of things from Max, which is true and something I work on since especially the last five races”.
Mekies’ VCARB Experience Proves Crucial
A significant catalyst for the turnaround has been the input of Laurent Mekies, with whom Tsunoda previously worked at VCARB.
Tsunoda revealed that Mekies recalled a specific setup philosophy from their time together that had been forgotten but proved to be highly effective when applied to the Red Bull F1 car.
“He helped me a lot of things,” Tsunoda explained. “Especially like for example the setup that I tried to race this year was the things I was doing almost every race in Vika (VCARB). But I forgot that kind of things… Laurent gave us the engineering side that Yuki was doing kind of these things to add some extra performance”.
The application of this old setup made the car feel instantly more familiar, giving the driver the confidence he had been missing.
“And when I tried it in Red Bull car, it actually still works. And I actually got the feeling from the car that I can get it’s much more familiar what I used to have and able to feel slightly bit more than previous races. So those things, without Laurent’s idea, I wouldn’t able to come up with that idea. And that’s what I appreciate”.
