Karun Chandhok left stunned by 80-race F1 driver he thought would be ‘blown away’ this year

At the halfway stage of the season, it’s now possible to properly assess how each driver is performing and whether they’re living up to expectations.

Some drivers have stood out – at both ends of the grid – for either the right or the wrong reasons and in a year where so many contracts are expiring, it’s had an impact on the driver’s market too.

The likes of Logan Sargeant and Zhou Guanyu look set to miss out on race seats for 2025 having failed to kick on as expected this year.

Neither driver has been helped by their respective teams’ poor performance, but their teammates have got the better of them more often than not.

Sergio Perez’s recent struggles at Red Bull have been under the microscope as well with the situation within both Red Bull teams tense, to say the least.

However, speaking on The Fast and The Curious Podcast, former F1 driver and pundit Karun Chandhok concentrated on a driver who had proved him wrong for all the right reasons this year.

After 80 Grand Prix entries, RB driver Yuki Tsunoda is finally showing his true potential this year.

F1 Grand Prix of Belgium — Photo by Rudy Carezzevoli/Getty Images

The Japanese driver enjoyed a blistering start to the season and although his form has been shakier in recent weeks, new upgrades added to the VCARB 01 haven’t helped matters.

Karun Chandhok surprised by how well RB star Yuki Tsunoda has performed in 2024

Asked who had surprised him this season, Chandhok said: “I’ve enjoyed watching Yuki Tsunoda, I feel like he stepped up this year.

“I honestly thought he was going to get blown away by Daniel and I said it to him in Australia.

“Actually, I said, oh, I owe you an apology because you’ve massively raised your game.

“He’s a very polite guy. He kind of smiled and said, oh, thank you.”

Yuki Tsunoda not performing well enough to replace Sergio Perez at Red Bull

While Chandhok has seen a real improvement from Tsunoda, Red Bull haven’t been quite as impressed this year.

It looked like Perez would lose his seat at Red Bull during the summer break having failed to finish in the top six of a race since Miami.

However, Perez has at least four more races to prove that he’s the right person to drive alongside Max Verstappen for the rest of the year and help deliver the Constructors’ Championship.

Senior Red Bull management had no interest in promoting Tsunoda despite outscoring Ricciardo this season.

Ricciardo was seen as Perez’s most likely replacement due to his previous success with Red Bull and Christian Horner’s faith in the Australian.

It means the Japanese driver’s long-term future with the team has to be called into question.

Damon Hill has told Tsunoda to get on the phone to one of Red Bull’s rivals if he wishes to progress his Formula 1 career.