Japanese F1 sensation Yuki Tsunoda had his best result of the season in the RB 21 at the 2025 Azerbaijan GP. Red Bull team boss Laurent Mekies responded on Tsunoda's outing in Baku, while appreciating the work ethic of the Japanese racer.
Yuki Tsunoda had a tough start to his stint at Red Bull after replacing Liam Lawson just a couple of races into the season. The Japanese racer had a few P9 and P10 finishes in the first five races for Red Bull before going into a seven-race pointless streak.
However, since the summer break, Tsunoda had shown significant improvement and finished the pointless streak at the Dutch Grand Prix by finishing P9. The Japanese racer made contact with Liam Lawson at the Italian Grand Prix and sustained damage to the car, losing speed as well as time, and finished outside the points.
The Azerbaijan Grand Prix was a perfect weekend for Yuki Tsunoda, who managed to qualify P6 and defended against Lando Norris throughout the race. While the Japanese racer did not have the raw pace to overtake Liam Lawson, he was able to keep the McLaren at bay and finished P6.
Red Bull's Team Principal Laurent Mekies ame out after the race and appreciated Tsunoda's performance at Baku, as well as his work ethic. He said,
“This was truly his best race, I think. He was strong in yesterday's qualifying, and he was very strong in the race as well. There was a group of drivers behind him, but he stayed ahead with his skill. Even Lando was behind him, and Yuki handled that pressure." (Via Shiga Sports)
“He works extremely hard and never backs down. Even when others might take a vacation, Yuki heads straight to the simulator with the engineers. Every weekend he’s not racing, he’s working somewhere. I’m really proud of him. He deserves it,” he added
Tsunoda's teammate, Max Verstappen, took the pole position, dominated the race, and comfortably took the win.