Helmut Marko praises Yuki Tsunoda for his performance in Baku

Red Bull Racing team advisor Helmut Marko praised Yuki Tsunoda's performance in the 2025 F1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix, claiming that he was running at equal speeds to his teammate at certain points. This was the highest point-scoring finish that the Japanese driver has had with the team.

Ever since RBR signed Tsunoda, his performance against his teammate, Max Verstappen, had been rather questionable. He only managed to clinch multiple P9s at best and raced out of points in most races. However, he began showing some improvement in recent events. Starting P6 in Baku earlier last week gave him a good launch. Moreover, both Lando Norris and Charles Leclerc could not overtake him, and Oscar Piastri was out of the race on the opening lap.

He managed to hold on to the position for the rest of the race, and Yuki Tsunoda clinched a striking P6, collecting eight points for the team. Dr Helmut Marko also mentioned that there were moments when Tsunoda's "lap times were almost on par with Max [Verstappen]." This was a major achievement for the 25-year-old, as he has been compared to the Dutchman multiple times this season.

Tsunoda also seemed to be satisfied with his performance, as he managed to clinch the crucial points he needed at this stage of the season.

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Yuki Tsunoda "improvement for myself" remark as he clinches best result with Red Bull Racing

Yuki Tsunoda during the 2025 F1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix (Getty Images)

Although Red Bull Racing hasn't been at the top of their performance this season, Max Verstappen has managed to win four races with the car. He clinched two major victories in Monza and Baku shortly after Laurent Mekies took control of the team, and has been performing flawlessly, slowly getting back to championship contention.

With Yuki Tsunoda matching his pace at times in the race (as Marko mentioned), it was a major achievement for him. Speaking to the media after the race in Baku, he revealed that he has been observing some improvements since the Italian GP, and is getting back on track with his teammate.

"I unlocked something [in Monza], which I proved in FP2 and long-runs as well," Tsunoda said. I just started, kind of, this approach and obviously quality is not on a level that probably Max is doing now."

He added:

"But step by step. I think [I] was not at least as far [behind] as I had been in the previous race week. So definitely positive. I think also it shows some improvement for myself, that I put some effort over the weeks to put in extra work, to do some extra simulator work. And I think that pays off for a little bit. I’ll just keep doing what I’m doing."

While these were crucial points from Yuki Tsunoda, they're still not enough to bring Red Bull up in the championship standings. The team is currently in fourth position with 272 points. They might be able to get ahead of Ferrari, sitting only 14 points ahead, but a championship contention is out of the question for this season.

Edited by Gunaditya Tripathi