Red Bull still haven’t given Yuki Tsunoda ‘parity’ with Max Verstappen despite parts upgrade

Follow us on Google Discover

The next 10 Grand Prix weekends are going to be more important for Red Bull driver Yuki Tsunoda than almost any of his rivals on the grid.

Although there are technically six active drivers without a contract for next season, Yuki Tsunoda appears to be under more pressure than almost all of his competitors.

Franco Colapinto’s time at Alpine could be ‘over’, but apart from that, the situation at Red Bull is the most tenuous when it comes to the F1 driver market.

Liam Lawson’s chances of returning to Red Bull are slim, but it’s his Racing Bulls teammate Isack Hadjar who looks more likely to replace Tsunoda.

Both drivers have outscored Tsunoda in the drivers’ championship since his promotion to Red Bull after just two races.

There was hope that Tsunoda’s fortunes would change when Laurent Mekies took over from Christian Horner as Red Bull team principal.

It was clear Horner’s main concern was Max Verstappen, but Mekies appears to have given Tsunoda more confidence.

However, F1 tech expert Matthew Somerfield has now dismissed the suggestion that, since Mekies’ arrival, Tsunoda has had ‘parity’ with Verstappen in terms of the parts being used on his car.

READ MORE: Red Bull driver Yuki Tsunoda’s life outside F1 from height to parents

Red Bull yet to give Yuki Tsunoda ‘parity’ with Max Verstappen despite Laurent Mekies appointment

Somerfield was speaking on the Missed Apex Podcast about Tsunoda’s fortunes and explained: “We’ve seen that with Red Bull recently between Max and Yuki.

“In terms of, yes, they have caught up in terms of the specification that is being used on either car, which has been problematic in the past. But that doesn’t mean that they’re still running the same specification.

“There was a big debacle about it recently. Oh, yeah, Yuki’s running the same stuff. And I’m sitting there thinking, no, he’s not. He’s not running the same stuff at all because I can see the pictures, and they’ve got different wings on the car.

“Yes, he has the option of running the same things, which haven’t been available to other drivers in the Red Bull team in the past.

“And it’s still been the case even this season. And at certain stages, even when your likes of Sky have been reporting that they’re both on the same specification, they’re not.

“There are differences between them. And partly because of that spare situation that you’ve just mentioned.”

READ MORE: All you need to know about Red Bull Racing from engine to Ford links

Yuki Tsunoda facing ‘forces outside of his control’ in battle to retain his Red Bull Racing seat

There are two schools of thought when it comes to Tsunoda’s Red Bull future.

The first is that forces outside of Tsunoda’s control could see him lose his seat, with main backers Honda moving on at the end of the year to exclusively work with Aston Martin.

On top of this, Tsunoda hasn’t scored a point since the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, and even though the RB21 is a difficult car to drive, he needs to be performing better.

However, on the other hand, with a new set of regulations on the horizon, consistency might be the most important thing for Mekies.

Therefore, giving Tsunoda another chance in a completely new car might help him rediscover his best form.

The trouble for Tsunoda is if Lawson or Hadjar put in a really strong run of performances up until the end of the season, which could force Red Bull’s hand and see the Japanese driver bow out of the sport after five seasons.