Tsunoda insists he feels support ‘more than ever’ from Horner and Marko as he takes blame for Austria struggles

Yuki Tsunoda has insisted that he feels support from Red Bull boss Christian Horner and team advisor Helmut Marko “more than ever”, despite his tough run for the squad continuing last time out in Austria.

A tough Saturday at Spielberg saw Tsunoda exit Qualifying in Q1, resulting in the Japanese driver lining up in P18 on the grid. The troubles continued on Sunday, with Tsunoda picking up a 10-second time penalty following a collision with Alpine’s Franco Colapinto before ending the race down in 16th and last place.

Pushed on whether he understood the issues that affected him at the Red Bull Ring ahead of the weekend’s upcoming British Grand Prix, Tsunoda took the blame for his tough outing as he explained: “The issue in the race was me.

“Trying to overtake [Colapinto], I could have just waited one more lap probably. It was a bit unnecessary to push flat out that much in that situation. The race craft wasn’t ideal from myself. The pace itself after that, [having] changed the front wing and everything, it’s not really probably the best reference I’ll get.

“But it’s still the session I’m working on really hard so far, especially the long run is the stint I’m normally struggling at. We worked so hard the last couple of days coming into here, what we can do better or not, and we’ve got to try a couple of [things].

“I’m looking forward to it, I’m feeling strong, and I think in the short run hopefully it will come soon in terms of the confidence that level I want.”

When quizzed on whether he still feels full support from the Red Bull team, Tsunoda responded: “Definitely, yeah. I feel support more than ever, from Christian and Helmut. I went to the south of the UK with a physio in Red Bull Racing to kind of reset myself, and that was coming from them.

“They just wanted [me] to have the fresh air and everything, so that helps a lot for me to build up in a way with my rhythm, and also we’re going to try a couple of things.”

Tsunoda acknowledged that having Marko’s support – amid the advisor recently suggesting that another driver change is not immediately on the cards at Red Bull – is helpful going forward.

“Yes, rather than him saying I’m going to switch in two races or whatever!” the 25-year-old joked. “Yeah, for sure. Him and Christian are very supportive. He was obviously not happy with my race in Austria, but at the same time he’s still willing to continuously help and support me.

“He still trusts my talent and the speed, I just have to prove at the track that I can do it. Helmut is just a direct guy, some races if [I] do bad he’ll tell me what was wrong or what was right.

“It’s the kind of pressure that he gives me, to really be at the level that I never think about or extract from me some performance. It’s just the way that he works from when I was a junior, and I appreciate from how much support I’m getting.”

Tsunoda is not the first driver to struggle to match Max Verstappen’s performance in the Red Bull and, when asked if he believes that it can take almost a full season or longer for anyone other than Verstappen to adapt to the car, the Japanese racer said: “I don’t know, it depends on the driver.

“I didn’t see yet a driver that got used to it in that car straight away, so that’s probably a fact but at the same time I feel I’m in the right direction, at least in the short run. I missed out in Q1 in Austria, but at the same time the gap was pretty small.

“Also in terms of the whole package, I know there is something to come as well into this year compared to Max. Once I get the full package, I still have good confidence that I can be in the level that they want, and also that’s what I’m working hard on.

“In terms of long run, it’s exactly the place that I’m still probably struggling at, but I’ll find a way. I saw a couple of driving styles I can try, that I never tried in my career in Formula 1, so it’s just learning stuff.”