Mekies hails ‘outstanding’ season for Tsunoda with RB racer making steps ‘no one could have forecast’

RB team boss Laurent Mekies has praised Yuki Tsunoda for putting together an “outstanding” season that “nobody could have forecast”, while suggesting he would be “ready” to race for Red Bull if an opportunity arises.

During his fourth term with the Faenza outfit previously known as AlphaTauri, Tsunoda started inside the top 10 at half of the 24 Grands Prix held and racked up nine points finishes to secure a personal best 12th in the drivers’ championship.

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This included a stellar run to third on the grid in a rain-hit qualifying session at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix, as well as seventh for RB’s home race at Imola and later Las Vegas, and best race results of P7 in Australia, Miami and Brazil.

Asked at the penultimate round of the season in Qatar if Tsunoda was impressing him as much as he did at the start, Mekies said: “Of course he is. If you look at the drivers’ performance, it very much followed the team’s performance through the year.

“We had a slow start, and a fantastic string of races, and a more difficult time when we hit some issues with our development. Finally, we managed to put the car back in the right window for this final part of the season, and the drivers’ results have been following that.

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“But when I see Yuki again performing at that level like he did in the last few races, it was all together an outstanding season from his side. I think he has made a step this season that nobody could forecast and it’s something he should be proud of.”

Mekies was then asked about Tsunoda’s long-awaited first test opportunity with Red Bull, which came at the post-season gathering in Abu Dhabi, and whether he feels the 24-year-old has what it takes to make the step up to the senior team.

“I think a guy at that level, that has been scoring the [number] of points he’s scored this year, a guy that has put the car in P7 or in P3 in the last two races in qualifying, of course I think he’s ready to get a faster car.

“We are hoping to provide him with this faster car, but of course, I think he’s ready for a faster car and a faster team or a bigger team. So, the short answer is yes, [he’s ready].

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“As for the test, I think it’s been very important for our drivers to get a chance into the bigger team, into our brother team. It’s one of our key DNA aspects for this team to be able to grow our drivers and to make them attractive enough so that Red Bull Racing want to have them.”

Tsunoda declared that he was “happy more than ever” after getting behind the wheel of Red Bull’s 2024 challenger at the Yas Marina Circuit last week, with the team praising him for providing “excellent feedback” over the course of the day.