Tsunoda: Comparison to Verstappen ‘unfair’ without equal-spec cars

Yuki Tsunoda has pushed back against direct performance comparisons with reigning world champion Max Verstappen, calling them “unfair” due to the unequal equipment currently provided within the Red Bull camp.

Fresh from an eye-catching qualifying performance at Spa-Francorchamps – where he placed seventh despite running a different spec car – Tsunoda has drawn attention not just for his pace, but for his frank honesty regarding internal team dynamics.

The Japanese driver readily acknowledges his teammate’s outstanding skills, highlighting especially Verstappen’s remarkable consistency.

“How he always extracts performance consistently every session, every Grand Prix, is very impressive,” Tsunoda told reporters ahead of this weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix.

“It’s not things that you can do very easily. And it seems like he can. It looks like he does it very easily.”

Yet for all his praise, Tsunoda was quick to qualify the gap between the two Red Bull drivers – one firmly embedded in the team’s core, the other still finding his footing in a car built around someone else’s demands.

Unequal Tools, Unequal Fight

“But at the same time, I just don’t think it’s fair to compare. And I don’t want to directly compare with him because he’s been here nine years in that car and I’m just jumping into the car,” Tsunoda said.

That “car” is the RB21, a notoriously tricky machine that even Verstappen has found temperamental. While the Dutchman’s feedback shapes the development of the car, his successive teammates – including Tsunoda – have often been left grappling with its quirks.

At Spa, for instance, Tsunoda only received a partial upgrade, missing crucial elements such as the latest front wing.

“And also, let’s see if I get exactly the same car. Until that point, I can’t compare directly,” he added.

• Read also: Verstappen struggling with RB21 set-up as ‘nothing really works’

Tsunoda has only managed 10 points from 11 races this season and is currently on a six-race stretch without a top-ten finish. Still, his outlook remains constructive.

“Until then, I’m just focused on myself because I know clearly what I can improve and I just progress in my own way, step by step.”

Despite finishing once again outside the top ten at Spa, Tsunoda maintains that he and his crews are heading in the right direction.

“Missing the points is not ideal at all,” he admitted. “But one thing that helps me is definitely, with my engineering side, with my side of the garage, at least we know that there’s clear progress and a clear pace.”

In a sport where milliseconds and machinery define legacies, Tsunoda’s plea for perspective is both timely and justified.

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