Yuki Tsunoda reveals chat with Daniel Ricciardo in Singapore, as he looks ahead to the fight for Red Bull seat against Liam Lawson and Sergio Perez.
The unceremonious exit of Ricciardo from Visa Cash App RB and even F1 did not sit well with a lot of fans. They felt Red Bull should have alerted the Australian or made it public that Singapore will be his last race, even though internally, they were certain about that.
Ricciardo went through the weekend as if it was his last and did everything that way. He had a close chat with Tsunoda, – as the Japanese driver revealed in Austin – while he also had a helmet swap with Oscar Piastri, and departed the scene with Lando Norris.
Tsunoda highlighted the learning from Ricciardo in the brief stay. “At least from my side, or maybe I am wrong, but when we spoke after the race in Singapore eyes to eyes, we said thank you and that appreciate each other and I was a bit emotional, to be honest,” he said.
“Because I think, he’s been a very good teammate and I think the driver I learn most out of any drivers. Obviously, it is this kind of environment, it is what it is, I saw a couple of his social media posts, he was wearing the hat and he seems like he’s enjoying the time off a little bit.”
Piastri, meanwhile, doesn’t see it as a pressure of being the lone Australian on the grid for the six races before Jack Doohan’s arrival in 2025. He will have Lawson joining the grid from the ‘other’ Down Under in New Zealand, but doesn’t see that as a rivalry to happen.
“I wouldn’t say too much extra pressure, it is a bit sad that he is not on the grid,” said Piastri. “He was an amazing guy, someone who I got to watching in F1, so it is sad to him go. Of course, for Liam, it is a great opportunity to show what is capable of again in F1. Unfortunate for Daniel but that is the nature of the sport, I don’t see it as too much pressure.
“I have got someone from next door to replace him but yeah, I have raced against Liam in the past, bit like fellow countryman of sorts. I kind of hope not [that I am fighting Lawson], with the differences of car performance, if we are rivals on track then something has really gone well for one of us or really badly for the other. We’ll see, we were competitors in junior series together, so we will see how it goes.”
Ricciardo’s good mate Max Verstappen wasn’t too pleased to see how the exit happened. He felt he deserved a bit more. “I think it was quite clear for me, for Daniel, that that was the last race,” he said. “From my side, I think it could have been handled a bit differently. Also for him, because he knew it, but he can’t say it exactly – it’s a bit of a shame.
“He’s done a lot for everyone. He’s won races. He has had incredible races. I think it deserved a nicer exit,” summed up Verstappen, whose teammate debate for 2025 has opened up once again with the arrival of Lawson. The Kiwi hasn’t been confirmed at Visa Cash App RB for beyond 2024 as of now.
While it is not in public per se, but the fight could happen between Tsunoda, Lawson and Perez as such, even though the Mexican is adamant that he will be at Red Bull in 2025. The Japanese driver doesn’t feel any different with the situation from before regarding the seat.
He thinks the target was to beat his teammates and so far, he has done that with so many changes around him. Even for Lawson, the Kiwi isn’t looking at things further to 2025, but more about settling in after a gap of nearly one year and aiding the team to secure P6 in the championship.
Situation now –
Tsunoda: “I thought it’s kind of like this situation already with Daniel. To be honest, those sort of Red Bull things, it’s always floating around anyway. To be honest, I got used to it and there’s no point to talk about it. I just have to keep proving myself as a result and how I work throughout the race weekends; keep focusing on what I have to do and those opportunities, it’s up to them and we’ll see how it goes. I’m sure it will increase the kind of mentality of trying to not get beaten, but I guess that’s natural. Maybe slightly a bit more spice on top of it than usual, but I think it was similar to last year as well. I know that those things are just floating around anyway. It is not the things that I saw from my eyes on the table. But at least on my side, I just focus what I have to do and obviously Liam will do a good job as well. I’ll make sure I’ll be ahead of him, and hopefully we can achieve P6 in the team championship. That’s the main goals. As I said, I also thought when Daniel was my teammate, it was kind of like that, but so far it seems not. Hopefully after Daniel things, they’ve changed their mind.
“I’m sure there are a couple of key things that they want to see that I can improve in the next six races. I kind of already knew that since last year in the second half or at least in the first half of this season. I just have to show them and just keep proving myself. I just have to be a driver, there’s not many things that are left for them that they can blame me for, saying like ‘Okay, there are things that you didn’t improve or things lacking so you can’t be at Red Bull.’ Just trying to be close to the perfect driver. That’s what I’m in for. Maybe from the outside. But for me, from the first race already onwards, it’s kind of [already been a] shootout between me and Daniel. Who is going to be ahead all the time [influences] next year’s contracts. For me, it’s [the shootout is] a part of the whole season. We built already until this point, including Daniel, that P6 right now in the teams’ championship. If we weren’t able to achieve those things, I would get very frustrated at the end of the season. It is kind of mixed battle for teammates and also P6.”
Lawson: “I think it’s not as simple as like a position or, like, this is where I want to be. I think it’s scoring points mainly for myself because that’s what it’s going to be or what the team’s going to judge me on, how I perform. And the best way to do that is score points. Also for the team, fighting for P6 in the championship as well. So yeah, basically trying to get to the points as soon as possible for me is the goal. I mean, I think that’s very far ahead, honestly. The target or the goal that’s been set out is the same as it’s always been since I was 17 and joined the programme. It’s all performance-based and that’s basically how they’ll be looking at it. Obviously, Yuki’s done a very good job the last couple of years and especially this year and he’s the benchmark for them to compare me against. He’s the only one in the same car as me. So I’ll be directly compared with him. And I guess the goal or the expectation from them is for me to compete alongside him. So in terms of where that sets me out for next year or in the future, I have absolutely no idea. But that’s the target that’s been set out.”
He has stayed while others changed –
Tsunoda: “Performance, I guess, also I make sure that I show them that I have potential, that I have a lot more room that will come in future. I was proving since the first year and, obviously, it didn’t go well initially. But, at some races, I showed them that I have potential, and I gained that back that I’m actually doing it, I’m improving it. This junior team, like maybe not now, but that’s the most important thing because I guess there’s a bit more flexibility – especially in first two years that can have mistakes – but I think I made sure to keep improving and that you can improve. I think that’s the most important thing.”
Here’s Liam Lawson on choosing his race number
Here’s Laurent Mekies’ plan to grow Visa Cash App RB
Here’s Yuki Tsunoda and others on Daniel Ricciardo
Here’s Daniel Ricciardo on potentially last race, feelings
Here’s link to a F1 Discord channel, join in to interact