Red Bull told ‘analysis’ of Yuki Tsunoda issue is now essential after ‘extremely difficult’ problem emerged

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The summer break was perfectly timed for several drivers in the paddock, and potentially none more so than Yuki Tsunoda.

It was evident last season that Red Bull had an issue with their car that Sergio Perez simply couldn’t deal with.

Max Verstappen has spent years driving around Red Bull’s issues, but this season has highlighted just how difficult they are proving to solve.

Liam Lawson’s final exasperated radio message before his demotion to Racing Bulls highlighted the problems with the RB21 this season.

Yuki Tsunoda was quickly selected as his replacement, but it could feasibly be argued that the swap has made very little difference to Red Bull’s fortunes.

The Japanese driver hasn’t scored a point since the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix when he scraped into the top 10, but he’s now sunk to 18th in the drivers’ championship.

When a driver is struggling like Tsunoda, then it’s the responsibility of his team to try and help him work through the issue.

Laurent Mekies has helped rejuvenate Tsunoda after they previously worked together at Racing Bulls, but the 25-year-old has yet to deliver a points-scoring result since he took over.

Former F1 driver Shinji Nakano has been studying Tsunoda’s recent form and thinks Red Bull need to start doing internal analysis of a particular problem that used to be one of the team’s strong points.

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Red Bull likely carrying out ‘analysis’ of Yuki Tsunoda’s radio communications

Nakano was writing for the Japanese outlet Autosport Web and reviewing Tsunoda’s recent performances.

He noted that listening to Tsunoda’s radio communications at the Belgian Grand Prix and the Hungaroring, he could hear that the messages were ‘inconsistent’.

While Nakano noted that not every message is available on the broadcast of each race, the situations Tsunoda was put in were ‘extremely difficult’.

At Spa, Red Bull told Tsunoda to pit too late, leaving him out a lap longer than his rivals, which cost him a points finish.

Tsunoda was furious in Hungary, when he wasn’t told about changes to the layout of his steering wheels and the different modes used, which he believes contributed to his Q1 exit.

Nakano notes that Red Bull have always made very ‘few mistakes’ when it comes to their strategy and can’t understand what’s going wrong.

He believes that ‘analysis of this issue is likely underway within Red Bull’ as they need to give Tsunoda every possible chance to add points to his and the team’s tally.

Considering Verstappen only just managed to squeeze into the top 10 in Hungary, Tsunoda can’t afford for the team not to be on top form to help him.

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Alex Jacques wonders if Red Bull would have looked at Yuki Tsunoda alternative for 2026 if he were available

There are a number of drivers on the grid who, if they were offered a seat at Red Bull two years ago, would have ripped up their contracts to make the move.

The team won 23 out of 24 races that season, and appeared to be in unstoppable form until the current regulations ended.

However, their decline has been very surprising, and it could be argued that at the Hungarian Grand Prix, they weren’t even the strongest team in F1’s midfield.

Alex Jacques suggested Red Bull would want Nico Hulkenberg, in an exclusive interview with F1 Oversteer, if he wasn’t already tied down to a Sauber contract.

Tsunoda is out of contract at the end of the season, and he’s yet to do enough to convince Red Bull that he deserves a new deal.

He will hope that Red Bull can improve their communications soon, otherwise the next 10 races could be his last as a Formula 1 driver.