Yuki Tsunoda reveals gradual Max Verstappen shift which unlocked Red Bull form

Yuki Tsunoda has explained how a gradual shift towards Max Verstappen's set-up has enabled him to unlock more performance for Red Bull.

After struggling alongside Verstappen since his Japanese Grand Prix promotion, Tsunoda gave up some of his August holiday to work in the simulator to try and unlock solutions behind his struggles, mainly in race pace.

There had been signs of an improvement with seventh on the Belgian Grand Prix grid and scoring points at Zandvoort, before putting in his best performance in Azerbaijan, scoring sixth in the race.

That was the 25-year-old's best result since fourth at the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Despite a disappointing weekend at the Singapore Grand Prix, where he qualified in P13 — only after the Williams pair of Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon were disqualified from the grid-setting session — and finished the race only one spot higher, in P12.

Detailing the upward trend, Tsunoda pointed to a gradual drift towards Verstappen's set-up in the RB21 as one factor behind it. 

"Since Day 1, I was only focusing on what I wanted from the car, rather than trying to chase Max's set-up," Tsunoda told media, including RacingNews365.

"I still consider what kind of set-up he's using because he's always able to extract performance from each track, almost the maximum, from the set-up, so obviously, there are some ideas on what kind of car will be there from FP1.

"But I definitely try to consider what they're doing in terms of set-up changes, and try to combine it both ways, and that's what we've done since Day 1.

"That quality has got better and better, and naturally, I started to adapt more to Red Bull and be able to drive on the limit and naturally become slightly closer to the 'Max set-up', which is good."

With Isack Hadjar broadly expected to partner Verstappen at Red Bull next season and Arvid Lindblad potentially taking a seat at Racing Bulls, Tsunoda could find himself in a tight battle with Liam Lawson for the remaining drive within the energy drinks manufacturer's two teams.