F1 News
Croft has advice for Tsunoda: "Don't qualify last at your home Grand Prix!"
Commentator David Croft has warned Yuki Tsunoda of the "huge pressure difference" that comes with joining Red Bull Racing after it was officially announced today that the Japanese driver would be replacing the demoted Liam Lawson.
Tsunoda was originally looked over by team principal Christian Horner and advisor Helmut Marko after he and Lawson battled it out for the final six Grands Prix of the 2024 season, with Lawson's potential and ability to adapt quickly at Racing Bulls after he replaced Daniel Ricciardo chosen over Tsunoda's impressive few years at Red Bull's sister team.
However, Lawson's at the Austrian team lasted just two races, with poor performances at the Australian and Chinese Grands Prix enough for the top team at Red Bull to replace him with Tsunoda, with the Japanese driver now coming in to take the New Zealander's place for the rest of the season, starting with his home race at the Japanese Grand Prix.
Tsunoda "has to score consistent points"
A crash on hisn opening race of the season, followed up by qualifying P20 and finishing P16 in China, was enough to see Lawson's Red Bull stint in 2025 come to an end, with Tsunoda now challenging with being Max Verstappen's teammate, a role that would be hard even with penalty of advice.
"I suppose the glib remark is don't qualify last for the home Grand Prix," joked Croft when asked what advice he would have for the Japanese driver when speaking to Sky Sports News.
"He might have a sensational weekend, and I hope he does. We go back to 2012, don't we, for the last time we had a Japanese driver on the podium, and that was Kamui Kobayashi at the Japanese Grand Prix. It will be a fairy tale to see Yuki Tsunoda get on the podium in front of his home fans, and I'm sure that's what Honda, who are Yuki Tsunoda's backers, are wanting and secretly hoping for and why they probably had quite a big part and played quite a big part in getting Yuki Tsunoda that seat for this particular race. There's no coincidence that it is the Japanese Grand Prix coming up next.
"But, thinking long term, if Yuki gets a long term, he's got to get to within a couple of tenths of a second in qualifying of his teammate Max Verstappen. He's got to score consistent points and be there to take the chances when they come his way. Don't think about beating Max Verstappen yet, although I'm sure Yuki would dearly love to do that. Max is the best driver on the grid, currently," continued the British commentator.
But Tsunoda's form in F1 has been extremely impressive at Racing Bulls, consistently outperforming the car to get points finishes, always putting himself in the battle to be the 'best of the rest.' However, the pressure at Red Bull compared to its sister team is a huge step up, Croft says.
"Forget about who his teammate is, just go out and do the maximum he can each and every session, every qualifying session and every race. And that maybe might ease the pressure that he's now going to be put under because there is a huge pressure difference between racing for Racing Bulls, despite doing very well and being very unlucky not to score points in the first two races, and racing for Red Bull, who are expectants of championship wins, championship points, and championships," concluded Croft.
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