Horner vows to give Tsunoda time at Red Bull after 'flashes of performance'

Christian Horner has insisted that Red Bull will give Yuki Tsunoda “time and support” in order to increase his confidence in the car, with the team boss backing the Japanese driver to deliver after displaying “flashes of performance”.

Tsunoda was promoted to the outfit from sister squad Racing Bulls after the opening two races of the season, the 25-year-old swapping seats with Liam Lawson amid a difficult start to the campaign for the New Zealander.

READ MORE: ‘It is what it is’ says a dejected Tsunoda as he fails to score for second race in a row

While Tsunoda has scored points in three of his seven Grands Prix for Red Bull so far, he has struggled to match the pace of team mate Max Verstappen and faced two particularly tough weekends in Monaco and Spain, having failed to reach Q3 in Qualifying on both occasions.

This has left him in 15th place of the Drivers' Championship as things stand on a total of 10 points, meaning that Verstappen is responsible for 134 out of the team’s 144 point-tally.

When asked in Barcelona about what the team can do in helping Tsunoda to feel more confident at the wheel of the RB21, Horner explained: “I think the only thing that we can do is give him time and support and try and get a set-up that he’s got confidence in.

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“Driving these cars is all about confidence, and that’s what he needs to find. I think he’ll get there.

"He’s fast. He’s just got to piece it all together. We keep seeing flashes of performance. We just need to see him put it all together. I think he’s capable of that.”

With various drivers having filled the seat alongside Verstappen in recent years – including Pierre Gasly, Alex Albon and Sergio Perez – Horner also faced questions on the future options for the team, including the possibility of Racing Bulls’ Isack Hadjar being on the radar after a strong start to his rookie campaign.

However, the Briton was adamant that the team are in no rush to make a decision about that, responding: “I think I’m going to take a leaf out of Flavio [Briatore’s] book and say, ‘I don’t want to answer it’.

READ MORE: Hadjar declares points run in Spain ‘a lot of fun’ as Racing Bulls team mate Lawson reflects on factor that ‘screwed’ him

“Look, it’s early days for Yuki. He’s still settling in. He’s been in Q3, scored points, he’s scored points from the pit lane. He’s had a few incidents as well, so he has a long way to go. We’ll decide. We’ve got plenty of time on our side.”