Tsunoda explores night-and-day difference between Red Bull and Racing Bulls cars

Yuki Tsunoda scored his first points for Red Bull Racing in Bahrain, but it was still a tough race for both the Japanese driver and his teammate Max Verstappen. Speaking to GPblog, Tsunoda was asked how similar the RB21 feels compared to the Racing Bulls car he drove previously.

Tsunoda finished ninth in his second race weekend with Red Bull in Bahrain. It was a tough weekend overall for the Red Bull squad, as Max Verstappen finished in sixth.

Tsunoda: 'Racing Bulls has a wider range than Red Bull'

According to the Japanese driver, the Racing Bulls car is not comparable to the Red Bull: “The thing is, to be in the window where the car performs — the Racing Bulls car has a much wider range. So whatever you do, almost, that car is able to operate quite well with any kind of balance."

Tsunoda then described the RB21: “But Red Bull has probably a specific kind of setup and window the tyre wants, and everything — and that narrow window is really hard to find. That kind of difference for me is quite big, because I never thought about warm-up and how to warm up and set up — so those things, currently, are the most difficult part to learn myself."

Tsunoda is experiencing the same issues with the car as Max Verstappen, something confirmed by team principal Christian Horner after the race. However, the Brit praised Tsunoda for the valuable feedback he provided during his first race weekends with the Austrian team.

The Red Bull driver will be making his third start for the Milton-Keynes-based team at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix next weekend. The third leg of the triple header. As always, you can stay up to date with all the latest developments from Jeddah on GPblog.

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Horner praises Tsunoda for 'good feedback' at Red Bull despite challenges with tricky RB21

This article was written in collaboration with Cas van de Kleut