Yuki Tsunoda’s heart was warmed by what Laurent Mekies did in Red Bull garage at Belgian Grand Prix

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Yuki Tsunoda produced a stronger qualifying performance for Red Bull at the Belgian Grand Prix on Saturday. He will start the race from seventh place.

That’s the second-best grid slot of the season for Tsunoda, who stepped up from sister team Racing Bulls after two rounds. He lines up inside the top 10 for the first time since the Miami GP in May.

That was also the last time the Japanese driver scored points. It comes as he reunites with Laurent Mekies, who was his boss at Faenza.

Mekies has been promoted following the sacking of Christian Horner. He saw Tsunoda get within a few tenths of world champion teammate Max Verstappen, the kind of performance he has to deliver consistently.

Laurent Mekies ‘smiled’ at Yuki Tsunoda amid Belgian Grand Prix improvement

Speaking to Sky Sports after Belgian Grand Prix qualifying, Tsunoda discussed the boost he’d received from Mekies. Repeating a tradition from their Racing Bulls days, the Frenchman smiled at him as he sat in the garage after reaching Q3.

Tsunoda made it to the top 10 shoot-out at 50% of the races last year following Mekies’ arrival. He had a perfect record at the start of this year before his promotion.

It’s worth stressing that Tsunoda bears no ill will towards Horner. He revealed on Thursday that the 51-year-old had sent him a message wishing him luck for the weekend.

“It was funny because, when I was VCARB, I’d always be in Q3,” Tsunoda said of Mekies. “He’d always smile at me, and I was watching him. He showed me that happy emotion.

“Exactly the same thing has happened today, as well. He smiled at me, and he showed me that I did a good job. Those things were definitely a nice flashback from old times.”

Insiders said that Tsunoda was looking revitalised before the race at Spa. He perhaps used the three-week break after Silverstone, a race where he was classified last, to reset.

Yuki Tsunoda must make it work at Red Bull – he’s lost his alternative option

Tsunoda knows he’s fighting not only for his seat, but also for his career in the second half of the year. His Red Bull contract will expire in just over five months’ time.

It’s been said that Tsunoda has an ‘almost zero percent’ chance of staying in F1. If he maintains his Spa form, though, he will hold onto some hope.

Despite his strong showings in the midfield, he doesn’t appear to have any offers from elsewhere. There was talk that Cadillac were keen on Tsunoda, but they’re going in a different direction.

It emerged before the weekend that Cadillac plan to sign Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez. Ironically, Perez was Verstappen’s teammate 12 months ago.

The biggest threat to Tsunoda is Isack Hadjar, briefly his partner in March. They will be next to each other on row four after Hadjar impressed again.