The future of Sergio Pérez at Red Bull seems to be more and more dotted. The latest indiscretions, still unconfirmed, report that Milton Keynes has finally decided to do without the services of Checo for next year, despite the Mexican’s declarations that his contract is solid.
The track leading to Franco Colapinto, the young Williams F1 driver, also apparently being ruled out, there would remain two drivers to, logically, replace Sergio Pérez and become Max Verstappen’s next teammate.
Unsurprisingly, these would be the two current RB F1 drivers, Liam Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda.
Sporting logic would dictate that Yuki Tsunoda, more experienced and more efficient than Lawson in recent Grands Prix, would be chosen. But the Japanese is held back by his strong links with Honda.
Peter Bayer, CEO of RB F1, has therefore taken up the cause of his lead driver: for him, Yuki Tsunoda is ready. More than Lawson?
“He’s taken a huge step forward from last year, physically and mentally. We can say that he is tending towards the peak of his abilities. »
“Clearly his performances this year have been of crucial importance to the team as he scores the majority of points this year. I think he is an important piece of this team. »
Carefully maintaining its relations with Lawson, Bayer then specifies that its New Zealand driver is also ready to take on the challenge of Milton Keynes.
“If an opportunity presented itself, I think Yuki, as well as Liam… they’re both up for the challenge, honestly, I’m sure. »
Bayer’s preference seems to go to Tsunoda, who has scored 30 of the 46 points of VCARB in fact this year… but his sanguine temperament, his angry outbursts on the radio, do they really make him a candidate to run in one of the state-of-the-art stables?
Yes according to Bayer, definitely number 1 fan of its pilot!
“Yes, I think he is ready to take the step and race for Red Bull Racing. »
“Ultimately, our job is to be a breeding ground for talent. Yuki had excellent training with Franz [Tost, ancien patron de VCARB/AlphaTauri] and now with Laurent [Mekies, actuel directeur d’écurie] and the team. »
“I definitely think he’s ready. Sometimes it may still be difficult for him to control his emotions. It’s something he’s working on, but I think it’s his last little flaw. For everything else, I would say he is one of the best drivers on the grid. »
However, Bayer does not make Yuki Tsunoda the official number 1 of RB F1. A way not to betray the future with Liam Lawson…
“I don’t think he’s a team leader – I think we see our two drivers as equals”he asserted, “and clearly he’s a bit more experienced now than Liam, and so on.”
“But we treat them both the same. »
Tsunoda must not fall into the ‘Max Verstappen trap’
Faced with Max Verstappen, wouldn’t Yuki Tsunoda be crushed? Could his morale withstand the situation that Sergio Pérez is currently experiencing?
“Regarding running next to Max, the other day I saw a really interesting interview with Alex Albon [ancien coéquipier de Verstappen chez Red Bull]where people asked him, “So what’s it like driving against Max?” ».
“And he said it’s not really driving against Max. You’re just driving with someone who has the same car as you, but he’s able to tune that car in a way that makes it so aggressive that you have to be a perfectionist at every turn. »
“If you don’t do that, you’re missing the point. I think that’s the real challenge. »
“You can either find your own way, tune the car, and try to succeed. But then I guess it’s very tempting as a driver to look over at the other garage and say, ‘Oh, okay, he’s a second faster. I want the same setting’. »
“Okay, we give you the same setting…and you’re nowhere. »
“I think you have to be strong, and I think it’s important for someone to be very strong mentally. You have to be mature not to fall into this trap, I think. »
