Red Bull hand Yuki Tsunoda rare Max Verstappen boost

Red Bull has handed Yuki Tsunoda a rare boost for this weekend’s Dutch Grand Prix, as his package is the most similar it has been all season to Max Verstappen’s.

Since replacing Liam Lawson at the Japanese Grand Prix, Tsunoda has typically received upgrades after Verstappen, often resulting in a significant lap-time gap between the two drivers.

For much of the season, the 25-year-old has found himself several tenths behind Verstappen, although that gap was noticeably reduced in Hungary.

The second Red Bull driver endured a poor result at the Hungaroring, but his pace was not far off that of the four-time world champion.

Tsunoda was recently fitted with an upgraded floor to match what Verstappen is using, and he revealed that the two RB21s will again be very similar at Zandvoort.

"It's quite close. I don't know specifically yet, specific details, but it's not like compared to before Spa, the biggest difference [between the cars] was before Spa until then. 

"So, yeah, for now, no, I think. And also we have to still, anyway, keep pushing for the performance, because I think what we saw in Hungary, we struggled as a team. 

"We both nearly dropped out in Q1 which is not the case that we normally see. So, yeah, we need to make the car better anyway. So let's see, for the coming races, but at least this race it's quite similar, I think."

Tsunoda offers honest reflection

Tsunoda has largely struggled since moving to the Milton Keynes-based team, scoring just seven points since Suzuka.

Adding to his difficulties, he has failed to score in the last seven grands prix – the longest point-less streak of any Red Bull driver.

Tsunoda acknowledges that he must improve over the final 10 races but has taken confidence from his performances since receiving the new floor in Budapest.

"Yeah, I think I have to," said Tsunoda, addressing the need to improve.

"And I think, the last two races before the summer break went pretty well in terms of the pace. Probably in terms of the result, you couldn't see that much.

"Usually, you just see the result. But I think the pace itself was pretty good after I had the upgrade. So yeah, there's a lot of things that we learned in the first half of the season after I joined Red Bull.

"Especially the relationship and understanding between the engineers, now it's gotten much better. So, yeah, ready to kick-off the second half of the season strong."