Yuki Tsunoda faces major challenge adapting to Red Bull car

Yuki Tsunoda — who replaced Liam Lawson after two races — continues to struggle optimizing RB21’s performance after five races with Red Bull Racing.

This pattern has repeated since Daniel Ricciardo’s departure to Renault — a decision taken after the collision incident with Max Verstappen in Baku.

Alex Albon, who was previously promoted from the junior team to Red Bull before eventually leaving the team, shares his perspective on the different car characteristics between both teams:

“The Red Bull Racing cars are on a knife edge. Max can drive it, but from my experience — I struggled. Racing Bulls has a more forgiving and stable car, while Red Bull is quite the opposite.”

Despite approaching his 100th Grand Prix and getting testing opportunity in Barcelona for 2026 tire development, Tsunoda still struggles to find the right feeling with RB21 — a car considered more extreme than its predecessors.

The simulator at Milton Keynes factory becomes one of Tsunoda’s adaptation methods, though he admits that the real car is less predictable at its limits compared to the virtual version.