Tsunoda leans into ‘team-first’ brief as Red Bull hunts answers — and points — in Vegas
Yuki Tsunoda has never pretended to be Max Verstappen’s equal weapon. What he’ll tell you, with a shrug and a grin, is that he’s the one happy to try the weird stuff if it nudges Red Bull in the right direction. In Las Vegas, that job description finally got a little daylight.
Promoted from Racing Bulls mid-season to replace Liam Lawson, Tsunoda’s headline numbers haven’t dazzled next to Verstappen’s mountain of points. But numbers don’t cover the homework. Red Bull’s RB21 has been a moody piece of kit, and Tsunoda’s been the guinea pig more often than not — splitting set‑ups, running alternative concepts, and, on occasion, starting from the pit lane just to gather cleaner data.
Brazil was the clearest glimpse of that role. Tsunoda rolled the dice on a different direction early in the weekend, and while it didn’t flatter in qualifying, it helped Red Bull lock in a race‑day solution. The car moved in the right direction; Verstappen reaped the reward. That’s the compact.
“In the second half of the year we’ve been consistently splitting set‑ups to open the sessions,” Tsunoda said this week as the paddock unpacked under the neon. “Sometimes it’s not pretty for me, but it makes our race picture clearer.”
There was a little swagger to his Thursday. Tsunoda clocked the third‑best time in opening practice, a whisker — 0.038s — ahead of Verstappen. FP2 was scrappy after red flags arrived right when teams were switching to quali sims, so the leaderboard was scrambled by the time the night got going. Still, the early speed chimed with what insiders have been seeing: Yuki’s comfort level in the RB21 has edged up, even if the results sheet doesn’t always show it.
Since the summer break he’s put points on the board three times, headlined by a hard‑earned sixth in Baku. That matters. Red Bull is in a dogfight to bank third in the Constructors’ Championship, with Ferrari in the mirrors and prize money on the line. Every finish counts when the margins are razor thin.
And yes, Verstappen’s chase for a fifth consecutive title is the obvious headline — any help in traffic, any car parked between Max and his rivals, any data point that accelerates set‑up clarity makes a difference. Tsunoda knows the brief. Qualify as close to Max as possible. Be useful in the race. Don’t get in the way; occasionally, get very much in the way of someone else.
Mexico was one of those “be useful” afternoons. Starting outside the top 10, Tsunoda played the team game during the opening stint to ease Verstappen’s life span on the tyres. Brazil could’ve been another top‑seven without a brace of penalties. The pace, he says, is there — the execution just needs to catch up.
“I’ll keep doing what helps Max and helps the Constructors’,” he said. “The goal is to be closer in quali and put it together on Sundays. The last few races, the speed has been positive. Now it’s about tidying the weekends.”
The Las Vegas weekend is a good canvas for that plan. Low‑grip surface, cold conditions, and a circuit that can make the brave look clever. It also rewards teams that solve the set‑up puzzle quickly, which is exactly where Tsunoda’s role becomes most valuable: try two paths at once, compare notes, commit for qualifying.
His longer‑term future? Still in pencil. Red Bull hasn’t nailed down its 2026 line‑up, and beyond Verstappen the company has options throughout its system. That’s the reality Tsunoda is racing inside: turn this late‑season audition into something undeniable. If not, Racing Bulls is a landing spot, but with Liam Lawson already waiting and Arvid Lindblad pressing his case, nothing is guaranteed.
For now, this is the job: be Verstappen’s wingman without the cape, a set‑up scout with decent elbows, and a points scorer when the door opens. It’s not glamorous, but it’s the sort of role that can swing titles and sort out Constructors’ paydays. If Tsunoda keeps threading that needle in Vegas and beyond, the stat line will start to look a lot more like the work he’s been doing in the shadows.
