Yuki Tsunoda: ‘Let’s see if I get the same car’ before comparing to Max Verstappen

Yuki Tsunoda says it’s “unfair” to compare him to Max Verstappen, insisting critics should wait until he’s given the same machinery before making judgments.

Tsunoda has struggled since replacing Liam Lawson at Red Bull since the Japanese Grand Prix.

The 25-year-old has scored points just three times for Red Bull, with a ninth-place finish at the Bahrain Grand Prix his best result so far.

Tsunoda's seventh-place qualifying at the Belgian Grand Prix was a notable step forward in his performance.

Red Bull had given Tsunoda the upgraded floor, which had only been run on Verstappen’s car.

On Thursday in Budapest, Tsunoda acknowledged that Verstappen is currently the best driver on the grid.

However, drawing comparisons between the two drivers wouldn’t be fair given the disparity in machinery, as Tsunoda hasn’t been given all the new upgrades yet.

“Yeah, he is, I can say, the current best driver on the grid,” Tsunoda said.

“How he always extracts performance from the [car], consistently, every session, every grand prix, it’s very impressive. It’s one of the things that you can [not] do very easily, and it seems like he can. He does it very easily.

“But at the same time, I don’t think it’s just really fair to compare [us], and I don’t want [to be] directly compared with him.”

When asked why comparisons with Verstappen aren’t fair, Tsunoda added: “Because of, like I said, he’s had nine years in the [Red Bull] car, and I’m just jumping into the car. Let’s see if I get exactly the same car.”

Tsunoda has ‘learned a lot’ from Verstappen

It’s a big second half of the season for Tsunoda, who’s likely fighting for his F1 future.

Isack Hadjar has impressed at Racing Bulls in his rookie F1 season, and Red Bull have protege Arvid Lindblad waiting in the wings.

The arrival of Laurent Mekies could work in Tsunoda’s favour, given their prior relationship at RB.

Tsunoda admitted that having a driver of Verstappen’s talent as your teammate is a “good reference”.

“Now, at that point, I can compare directly, but until then, I just focus on myself, because I know pretty well I can improve, and I just progress in my way, step by step,” Tsunoda explained.

“But a good thing about being with him, he’s just able to learn a lot of things very quickly because he’s done it. He does a lot of things that I’ve never done.

“He’s always able to kind of be a good reference. I can confirm something when I try something. So, yeah, he’s an impressive guy, and definitely I recognise that he’s a good driver.”