Tsunoda recognises 'extreme pressure' as Red Bull debut awaits

Yuki Tsunoda has recognised the "extreme pressure" he will now face as a Red Bull F1 driver, starting in this weekend's Japanese Grand Prix. 

It was announced by Red Bull last Thursday that Tsunoda would swap seats with Liam Lawson ahead of F1's trip to Suzuka, with his experience being pivotal to improving the RB21. 

For Tsunoda, it means his competitive Red Bull debut will take place at his home race, whilst a special Honda tribute livery will also be run by the team. 

Being promoted to the Milton Keynes-based outfit is something Tsunoda had been pushing for in the last couple of years, but he had previously been overlooked on every occasion. 

That is until now, although he revealed that he was initially too busy to truly appreciate the fact he had been promoted due to needing to complete his preparation for Suzuka.

"When I first got the call, I thought: 'Wow, this is going to be interesting,'" said Tsunoda, speaking at a Honda event at its Aoyama headquarters. "More than anything, I’m excited about the challenge ahead.

"There aren’t many moments in life where you face this kind of extreme pressure and an opportunity as big as this, so I can only imagine that it’s going to be an incredibly thrilling race.

"At first, I was too busy to even take the time to fully appreciate the excitement. I had to jump straight into the simulator, do seat fittings, and take care of a lot of other preparations."

What Tsunoda did first

Since the end of the 2023 season, many called for Tsunoda to be given a chance by Red Bull, having been very strong against Nyck de Vries and Daniel Ricciardo. 

Those calls continued when Red Bull confirmed in December last year that it had parted ways with Sergio Perez, given Tsunoda defeated Lawson in their short head-to-head battle. 

Racing for Red Bull is something Tsunoda started to believe would never happen, making him question why he conducted a seat fit for the team earlier this year when announced as its reserve driver. 

Competing for the Austrian outfit is an opportunity Tsunoda wants to maximise, although the first thing he did once his promotion was announced is speak to those who have helped him.

"Of course, getting promoted to Red Bull is an amazing opportunity, but before anything else, I wanted to talk to my engineers and the people who had supported me," revealed Tsunoda.

"So, despite all the emotions, I actually felt quite calm. Since I was a reserve driver this year, I had already done a seat fitting before.

"But back then, I remember thinking: 'Why am I even doing this? I’m not going to be racing anyway.'"