Yuki Tsunoda says he is "100%” ready to step into the Red Bull from as soon as the Japanese Grand Prix, as Liam Lawson struggles to get up to speed. Following a Q1 elimination and crash out of the Australian GP, Lawson qualified slowest on merit for both the Sprint and main grand prix in China having been handed promotion from Racing Bulls ahead of Tsunoda. Tsunoda has previously explained he did not know why he had been snubbed by Red Bull, despite a string of impressive performances, which he continued in China, by taking sixth in the Sprint and ninth on the grid for the main race. In the qualifying sessions across the weekend, he was 0.413s faster in the Sprint and 0.936s quicker than the Kiwi for the main session. Helmut Marko refused to rule out a potential mid-season driver swap post-session, with Tsunoda asked about this possibility. When asked if he would be willing to step into the RB21 alongside Max Verstappen, he told media including RacingNews365: "Yeah, why not?" The next race is Tsunoda's home Japanese GP, and when further pressed added: "Japan, yeah, 100%. The car is faster, I'm sure."
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