Yuki Tsunoda reveals customs trial ahead of entering Las Vegas for the F1 race, as he notes of ‘same story’ with Red Bull regarding future.
Despite having entered America twice in the year in Miami and Austin, Visa Cash App RB’s Tsunoda was held up at the Las Vegas airport by the customs official for couple of hours of interrogations before being allowed to enter the country for the weekend’s F1 race.
It is unclear what led to him being held up since he had all his visas done. It was uncomfortable for Tsunoda in the discussions, but he managed to see it through. He joked if it was the colour of his clothes, as he hopes that there are no such issues in the future.
“Luckily, they let me in after a couple of discussions,” said Tsunoda when asked by the media. “Well, a lot of discussions, actually. But yeah, I nearly got sent back home. We had discussions and everything is all good, so luckily I’m here now. I did the visas and everything. It’s been the same the last three tracks, right?
“I was able to enter smoothly at the previous track [Circuit of the Americas]. Felt a bit strange that I got stopped and had a proper discussion. Luckily, it didn’t go on more than two or three hours. I felt it is going to be long travel for me. It’s not the first time we’ve come here this year.
“I heard a lot of things, but hopefully that is all well in the future – and smoothly,” summed up Tsunoda, as he then expanded on what happened and how he handled it. “There was my physio that I travel with,” continued Tsunoda. “Obviously when you go through customs, you go individually, right?
“And suddenly he [the official] just put me in the room and when I had a conversation I was like: can I bring the person that I’m going to travel with? Maybe he can help a little bit to explain a bit more about myself and the situation in Formula 1? But they didn’t allow me to bring them or even call anyone.
“I wanted to call the team as well, or maybe F1 so they can help me. But in that room, you can’t do anything. It was proper individual, feels like got pushed. Maybe I was wearing pyjamas and the colour looks like a Formula 1 driver. I don’t know. I am sure he knows it, I feel like because all the conversation, even like he asked me everything and little uncomfortable thing.
“It just feels that I got a lot of pressure from them, and I couldn’t say anything. Otherwise if I say something I feel like I’m more in trouble. Hopefully, all things are sorted. Luckily I went through smoothly,” summed up Tsunoda, as the focus switched to his F1 future and all the speculation around the Red Bull seat with the name of Franco Colapinto joining the fray.
There is always Liam Lawson in the mix to go with Isack Hadjar, but Colapinto’s performances at Williams has led to new discussions which Tsunoda thinks is normal ‘Red Bull things’ to happen – which he used to now. He knows he deserves to get a look-in for the senior F1 team drive, but he is not thinking much now.
He feels it is part of how motorsport is. “Some of the stories are already happening from when Daniel was my teammate, Liam came in and suddenly he’s up,” started Tsunoda. “So, to be honest, it’s just the usual story in that team, or in the Red Bull family. As I said, it is usual story which is part of motorsport and F1, especially our team.
“It is what it is. I don’t really think about it anymore. Yeah, 100%. I always say that. Definitely I deserve that [Red Bull] seat and I can’t say more than that. Definitely, it is up to them. There was a time that I probably started to get impatient, probably just before the summer break. But this thing, like I said, I recognise I can’t control. And, it’s just part of the life. I just have to keep doing what I’m doing.
“I’m the one who’s racing still now and whoever they keep sending [as a teammate], to beat me, whatever, I just keep destroying them so that’s what I’m going to do,” summed up Tsunoda, who appreciated the work done by Honda, which includes discussions to help him get a Red Bull test in Abu Dhabi after the 2024 F1 season.
But for now he is not talking with Honda as much about his future. He is directly speaking to Red Bull. “I don’t know relation between Honda and Red Bull [currently],” said Tsunoda, referring to the incoming end of its relation after 2025 when Honda moves to Aston Martin from 2026 onward. “Honda has helped me since I was young and currently Honda and the Red Bull are working together.
“I’m sure they’re pushing but, it’s just the Red Bull thing, [for] whatever reason it’s not working. I just stopped thinking about that and it’s just useless thing pointless to think about. I am not really talking with Honda yet, to be honest. I am just focusing on what I am doing and more talking with Red Bull.
“I mean Honda if at some point, it is like okay, in some scenario I jump into Red Bull, something happens maybe, for now I am just talking to Red Bull. With Honda, I appreciate them for always supporting me but yeah, I am part of Red Bull, so I talk with Red Bull directly,” summed up Tsunoda.
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