Tsunoda reveals eerie Marko silence following Red Bull switch

Yuki Tsunoda has revealed he has strangely yet to be contacted by Helmut Marko following his promotion to Red Bull.

Marko was one part of the management team, along with team principal Christian Horner and other board members, who made the call to demote Liam Lawson after just two grands prix with Red Bull and hand Tsunoda an opportunity he had long been overlooked.

In December, it was Horner and Marko who turned to Lawson after opting to release Sergio Perez from a renewed contract only signed in early June, believing Lawson held greater potential after 11 grands prix than Tsunoda after four years with the sister team.

Lawson's performances over the opening two races of this season in Australia and China were disastrous, notably qualifying last for the sprint and grand prix at the Shanghai International Circuit.

That forced an emergency meeting in Dubai two days later, resulting in an announcement that confirmed the shock driver swap.

Remarkably, despite being close to all of his drivers over his years with the team, Marko has failed to speak with Tsunoda, even to at least congratulate him on the move.

"Surprisingly, he didn’t call me yet," said Tsunoda, speaking to media, including RacingNews365, ahead of this weekend's Japanese Grand Prix. "Very unusual.

"Not sure [why]. Maybe he was busy with other things. I can’t wait to see him and see how he’s going to react to me. [But] It’s very unusual.

"From F3, F2, F1, he’s always been calling me. This is the only time he didn’t. I’m sure there’s not anything from his side.

"Even in the last few races, we’ve still had a good relationship. We didn’t have any moments between us. So yeah, let’s see how he arrives at the track when I’ll see him in person."