Takuma Sato Backs Tsunoda for Red Bull F1 Seat

Honda is lobbying Red Bull to promote Yuki Tsunoda, with HRC leaders highlighting his development and recent impressive feedback.

Honda still hopes to convince Red Bull Racing to sign Yuki Tsunoda alongside Max Verstappen next year. The head of the brand’s motorsport division, HRC, confirmed that he discussed the matter with Christian Horner, the team principal of Milton Keynes.

“We were able to secure participation in the test we requested,” said Koji Watanabe, President of Honda Racing Corporation. “I heard that he was also very satisfied.”

“I returned to Japan from Abu Dhabi yesterday, and on Saturday, I had a number of discussions with Christian Horner regarding drivers for next season and beyond. As I always say, teams have the right to decide on drivers, so we only provide our opinion as a reference.”

“From HRC’s perspective, we believe Tsunoda is fully capable of being promoted to Red Bull and should be one of the candidates. What we can do is give him the chance to show the world what he is capable of, and I asked for him to take part in this test, which we managed to arrange yesterday.”

“After that, I don’t know; we’ll have to wait and see what happens. But it would be great if it works out. Either way, he will drive for RB next season, so I hope he succeeds next year, regardless of the team he races for.”

HRC Executive Advisor Takuma Sato praised Tsunoda’s involvement and performances. He now considers him mature enough and still fast enough to compete for a top seat.

“The team’s first race in F1 took place in Bahrain in 2021, where he made his F1 debut and displayed a speed that amazed everyone,” said Sato. “I believe his development as a driver has continuously progressed over the past four years.”

“I saw him for the first time in a while at Imola, and he seemed very relaxed, so I think he has become a very good driver. I believe he has grown significantly with age and experience, particularly in race management, technique, speed, and self-control to handle himself well.”

“As I said, I expect him to drive for Red Bull, but the rest is up to the team. His driving style and the sharp front end of the Red Bull car suited him, so I think he had a very good test. Now, all we can do is hope.”

Sato briefly spoke with Tsunoda but found his compatriot’s technical feedback to be thorough and effective: “I only met Tsunoda before the test, and he told me, ‘I want to achieve a good result. I’m going to make the most of it.'”

“He said these two things, and after that, I only have reports from the HRC site, but he clearly analyzed the differences between the Racing Bulls car and the Red Bull car. He provided very useful advice and feedback to the team about this. I can confirm, based on the report, that he himself is very satisfied with the results.”