Yuki Tsunoda said he was satisfied with the handling of the Red Bull RB20 while testing with the Milton Keynes team in Abu Dhabi. For 127 laps, he did his best to show that he deserves the wheel alongside Max Verstappen next year.
“It’s the first time in four years that I’ve driven a different car. You can physically feel why the RB20 fought for the championship this year, it’s a very different car to drive” Tsunoda said. “We had a very proactive day today and I’m very happy with it.”
“I still have a lot to learn, but the team did a great job putting together a great race today, and the atmosphere in the garage was very nice. I feel like the car suits to my riding style and I didn’t have much trouble adapting, even on long runs.”
“I was able to drive consistently today and I could feel the limits of the car, which if you don’t have confidence in the car, stops you from testing it. I’m happier than ever right now and making sure the team has the information they need at every race is the most important thing to come out of today.”
Isack Hadjar was at the wheel of the second RB20, and he completed 125 laps on a productive day: “I did a lot of laps in practice today. I had a really good feeling in the first two runs, which consisted of a bit of performance and a few long runs as well.”
“Testing is tough for the team and it’s a busy day. We’re learning a lot and I was able to make my first start at testing, which was a lot of fun. I was immediately very comfortable in the behind the wheel of the RB20 I have now taken part in four free test sessions, but they only happen every four months.
“So every time you try not to forget the feeling of the car. We have provided a lot of information to the team and the engineers, so I am happy with the work we have done and I hope to have more opportunities like this in the future.”
“A big effort” to set the course for 2025
Ben Waterhouse, Red Bull’s director of performance engineering, took stock of these tests and explained what they will bring for 2025: “It was a very productive day. Both cars performed reliably to complete over 250 laps and the whole team continued to perform at a really high level after such a long season.”
“We had Yuki in our car for the first time and Isack behind the wheel of the RB20 after his recent FP1 outing during the race weekend. We successfully completed priority testing on both cars, with both drivers performed very well and delivered exactly what we expected of them.”
“Yuki provided excellent feedback on the various tests carried out on the Pirelli 2025 tires, offering valuable insight into the tire changes Pirelli will introduce next year, while Isack did an excellent job, passing all the procedural aero tests in the morning before performing long and short runs evaluating a series of test elements in the afternoon.”
“The data collected today will now be analyzed in more detail at the Milton Keynes factory and this data, together with that collected during the season, will help define performance improvements for 2025.”
“A big thank you to all the team here and in Milton Keynes, as well as Sakura. We now need to recover from the season and make a big effort over the winter to bring further performance gains to the RB21 in the aim to fight for both championships next year.”
