Red Bull deliver clear second seat 'priority' statement

Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies has delivered a clear statement that the team's "priority" with its second seat is to give Yuki Tsunoda what he needs, rather than make a driver change.

Tsunoda has struggled since replacing Liam Lawson from the Japanese Grand Prix, and has broken unwanted Red Bull records this season. 

The Japanese driver recently endured the worst qualifying run of any Red Bull driver, but has now taken an even worse record. 

Excluding retirements, Tsunoda is the first Red Bull driver to go seven successive point-less races, adding to what is already a troubling campaign. 

Tsunoda has scored just seven of the Milton Keynes-based outfit's 194 points this season, putting more pressure on Max Verstappen to challenge the lead places. 

Some have called for Red Bull to conduct a second driver change of the year, although Mekies has ruled that out.

"The priority is to give Yuki what he needs to perform," Mekies told Sky F1. "That's where, with regards to the second seat, the priority is. It's what the team is concentrating on.

"They have been trying that for a number of races. Now we are trying to find ways together to make a further step."

Mekies added: "But, you know, there is no reason why Yuki's performance cannot be what we have seen in the past. That's what we are concentrating on right now."

Tsunoda's recent progress

Despite poor finishing results, Tsunoda has made progress in the last two races after receiving a new floor in the Belgian Grand Prix. 

His lap time deficit to Verstappen has significantly reduced across Belgium and Hungary, to the extent that he was just over one-tenth of a second slower than his team-mate at the Hungaroring.

Asked if he was responsible for Tsunoda receiving the new floor in the Belgian GP, Mekies insisted: "No, no, absolutely not. It's a team decision.

"All the team is trying to give Yuki the right confidence and the right tools, and he is working very well with this group.

"You need that string of good feelings with a car, a good qualifying, and a good race to perhaps extract the next steps. And that's where we're trying to get to."