Yuki Tsunoda highlights the biggest difference between working with Laurent Mekies and Christian Horner

Follow us on Google Discover

Yuki Tsunoda found some reason to be optimistic during Laurent Mekies’ first race weekend in charge of Red Bull. He qualified seventh, his best Saturday showing for the team yet.

Unfortunately, by pitting too late, he dropped to 13th. Tsunoda’s engineers looked ‘depressed’ after the race, and the team acknowledged their error.

The Japanese driver hasn’t scored points since the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix on 18 May. But he sounds more hopeful following Mekies’ arrival.

He worked with the Frenchman at Racing Bulls during the 2024 season. While he hasn’t expressed any negative feelings towards Christian Horner, Tsunoda enjoyed his best year to date under Mekies’ leadership.

Yuki Tsunoda suggests Laurent Mekies is more interested in his feedback than Christian Horner

Speaking to outlets including Motorsport.com before the Hungarian Grand Prix, Tsunoda praised Mekies’ warm demeanour. He received a thumbs-up from the team principal after reaching Q3 at Spa.

In many ways, the Spa weekend was a ‘flashback’ to his time at the sister team. Mekies, a former engineer at Minardi, comes from a different background than Horner, who got into team management after racing himself.

Tsunoda says the new man is more interested in feedback after each session. Mekies ‘excels’ at implementing his drivers’ comments, which will also be welcomed by Max Verstappen.

“The difference, it’s more like a kind of flashback [to] when I was in VCARB,” he said. “After every session, he always comes to me and asks about feedback, how the car felt, how I was in the session compared to other competitors, where I was lacking most in terms of corners, everything.

“Those kinds of conversations I definitely have more now with Laurent and especially that kind of little touch, in qualifying, for example, we’re going through [to] Q3, and at VCARB, when I was going through [to] Q3, he always gave me a smile from the pit wall.

“I had exactly the same when I went to Q3 [last weekend], he gave me a nice smile from the pit wall, that extra confidence or extra kind of comfort that he gives, from his just generally nice aura and treatment.”

Yuki Tsunoda addresses his chances of staying on the F1 grid for 2026 amid Red Bull woes

Tsunoda can change the narrative around his future by delivering a positive result at Budapest. Right now, it’s looking bleak.

Out of contract at the end of the season, Tsunoda is almost certain to lose his F1 seat altogether after a dismal stint at Red Bull. Offers from rival teams don’t appear to be forthcoming, so only a turnaround in form can save him.

Tsunoda is ‘worried’ about his future, as he admitted in a recent interview. He’s used to the ‘rumours’, though they now concern his release rather than a potential promotion.

It’s said Mekies will give Tsunoda more of a ‘voice’, but that must translate into results on track. The 25-year-old enters this weekend 17th in the drivers’ championship.