Christian Horner highlights key factor in Yuki Tsunoda defence

Christian Horner insists Yuki Tsunoda is "actually closer" to Max Verstappen than Sergio Perez was, despite the difficult start to the Japanese driver's Red Bull tenure.

The 25-year-old was parachuted into the seat alongside the four-time F1 drivers' champion after two rounds this season, following Liam Lawson's poor start to life with the Milton Keynes team.

Having been overlooked in favour of the New Zealander initially, Tsunoda has represented an improvement, but has also struggled.

Having scored just seven points in eight rounds, after taking three in two weekends for Racing Bulls, it is increasingly being suggested that Red Bull ought not to have relieved Sergio Perez of his duties during the off-season, despite his own underwhelming form.

Sitting fourth in the constructors' fight on 162 points, removing Verstappen's 155 of those from the equation would drop Red Bull to bottom of the standings, highlighting the stark disparity in output between its two cars.

Although, Horner maintained that the Dutchman's "acute ability" was the main reason for the lopsided performances coming from the team's drivers when it was put to him that it appears to be a perpetual problem for the six-time constructors' champions.

"If you look at the way the cars have been developed over the last five years, you're always dealing with the information that you have to try and produce the fastest car that you can," he told Sky Sports F1.

"And sometimes fast cars are difficult cars to drive, and Max has a very acute ability to be able to extract the maximum."

It was also highlighted how Perez is "looking pretty reasonable" with hindsight and that Lawson and Tsunoda are "a little bit further away" from Verstappen, which Horner denied.

The 51-year-old underlined how costly the Japanese driver's heavy crash in qualifying for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix has been, with it curtailing his development in the RB21.

"Now, Yuki came in and was finding his feet reasonably to begin with," the Briton said. "And then I think that incident in Imola did affect his confidence.

"But on the metrics we see, he's actually closer to Max. And hopefully, with a bit of time and confidence, performances will come."