23-year-old has improved his chance of staying in Formula 1 after first two Grand Prix

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Plenty of drivers are fighting for their futures in F1 but after just two races Visa Cash App RB driver Yuki Tsunoda might have already improved his chances of staying on the grid.

The pressure is already building and the split on the grid between the top five and bottom five teams isn’t helping, especially after Nico Hulkenberg’s miraculous point in Jeddah.

Speaking on The Race Podcast, journalist Ben Anderson believes Tsunoda’s start to the campaign – especially compared to teammate Daniel Ricciardo – has done him plenty of favours.

Tsunoda has improved his chances of staying on the F1 grid

While 13 drivers are out of contract at the end of the 2024 season, the grid could be really shaken up in the coming months.

The likes of McLaren and Ferrari have already confirmed their line-ups for next year, but opportunities are popping up elsewhere on the grid.

There’s a unique scenario within two teams in Formula 1 given the relationship between Red Bull and RB.

The second team – formerly known as Toro Rosso and AlphaTauri – has always provided drivers with a platform to impress before moving elsewhere on the grid.

The likes of Carlos Sainz, Pierre Gasly and Alex Albon have all taken this route.

Yuki Tsunoda is in his fourth F1 season with RB now and the time might be coming for him to look for a way to move on, but he’s improved his chances of doing so with his displays in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.

It’s his teammate Daniel Ricciardo who might be in more trouble after being touted for a race seat at Red Bull next year if Sergio Perez didn’t step up.

Instead, the Mexican has done exactly what was asked of him while Ricciardo has struggled for pace.

Tsunoda doing his Formula 1 chances no harm at all

Talking about the situation at RB, Anderson said: “I don’t think he [Ricciardo] deals with the unpredictability that underpins all these cars in the ground-effect era and of course, as teams are getting faster and trying to run lower and find more downforce, you can introduce a lot of instabilities and I think they might perturb him a bit more than [Yuki] Tsunoda.

“I think he’s a bit better at handling the unpredictability of the car, particularly in the corner entry phase.

“So, a lot to unpick for Ricciardo, a bit too soon to write him off this season, but the underlying pattern since he got into that car from the middle of last season to now is that Tsunoda is a little bit ahead.

“And I think Tsunoda has taken a step this year knowing that he needs to beat Ricciardo to basically guarantee or give himself a shot of a future at F1.”

Tsunoda may have improved his chance of staying in F1 at this early stage, but until he’s offered a new contract, nothing is guaranteed.

Liam Lawson will almost certainly be on the grid next year, meaning the Red Bull group have to move on one of their drivers.

Aston Martin becoming Honda’s work team in the future might see Tsunoda leaning in that direction if he has to move on given his connection with the power unit supplier.

However, that would involve them either losing Fernando Alonso which would be a huge blow, or Lawrence Stroll taking the brutal step of letting his son Lance go.