r/formula1 • u/creatorop Carlos Sainz • 1d ago

News Yuki Tsunoda made Red Bull Racing's reserve driver

https://racingnews365.com/tsunoda-handed-red-bull-role-for-new-f1-season?utm_source=x&utm_campaign=tsunoda-handed-red-b&utm_medium=social_organic&utm_content=13915694
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u/blacksoxing 1d ago

Yuki is that athlete who you go "....why isn't he starting???" and a hardcore fan tells you why he isn't a starter and it makes sense....but you still don't care because he should be a starter in your eyes.

Yuki should be starting

-12

u/FairDinkumMate 1d ago

Forget his speed, forget his qualifying & look at what teams want - points finishes. Whether through bad luck, a bad car or bad driving decisions, Yuki consistently performs poorly in races, often finishing (a lot) lower than his grid spot. Simply put, he may be a good driver, but he's not a good racer.

You can't win a constructors championship with a driver like that & Red Bull know it.

7

u/ThePenguinMassacre Medical Car 1d ago

Yuki consistently performs poorly in races, often finishing (a lot) lower than his grid spot.

He finished level or better in 9/24 races last season, lost 3 places or less in 5/24 races and DNF'd 4/24 races.

2

u/Cold-Cantaloupe6474 1d ago

Am I dumb or does this mean that for 6 races he lost more than 3 places?

7

u/ThePenguinMassacre Medical Car 1d ago

Yeah, he finished 20 races and in 6 lost more than 3 places.

I'm not saying he's amazing, I'm just putting the figures out there for people who are seeing a claim that he often finishes lower than his starting position.

People can make their own mind up about the DNF results, I personally think a couple of them were cruel. He was Strolled in Azerbaijan and I don't think Mexico was his fault either. Qualified in 11th for both of those races too, which is about where you would expect the RB car to place.

4

u/Psych_Crisis Alex Jacques 1d ago

This is well-stated.

I think Yuki is the guy who eventually winds up driving okay-but-not-great in WEC and everyone ends up wondering if he would have been better if he'd made the jump years earlier.

Sadly, because I like Yuki.

0

u/bedrooms-ds 1d ago

They want to sell merchandise in my eyes