Footage has re-emerged of Yuki Tsunoda pranking his new team-mate Max Verstappen. The two racers will be working more closely together than ever before from now on after Red Bull decided to elevate the Japanese driver into their top Formula 1 team.
That promotion comes at the expense of Liam Lawson, who moves back down to junior squad Racing Bulls. The Kiwi has been taken out of the firing line after a wretched start to the new season, having scored zero points after two Grands Prix and one sprint race.
It will be a tough task for Tsunoda who must race with a car he has never driven before and which has proven to be tough to tame. Even Verstappen has admitted the RB21 is difficult to drive and Lawson failed to get a handle on it in his brief time behind the wheel.
But there should be no issues in terms of the personal dynamics between the two new team-mates. Because Tsunoda has spent four years racing for the junior team, often partaking in commercial and marketing activities together, he and Verstappen know each other very well already.
And they clearly can have a lot of fun together, evidenced by a clip of them that has emerged since it became clear that they were going to be team-mates. In it, Tsunoda and Verstappen are seen taking part in some fun games.
They are both stood at the top of the famous Eau Rouge corner on the Spa-Francorchamps circuit which hosts the Belgian Grand Prix. In the footage, Tsunoda is seen teaching Verstappen how to say a few words in Japanese.
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However, the captions at the bottom of the clip make it clear that Tsunoda is playing a trick on the four-time F1 champion. It is unclear what Verstappen believes he is trying to say, but the phrase his friend is actually teaching him is: “Yuki is a faster driver than me.”
After successfully repeating the phrase, Verstappen looks rather pleased with himself. It is only after Tsunoda admits what he has just taught him to say that his pride turns into hilarity and the Dutchman bursts out laughing, clearly tickled by the prank he fell for.
Though he and Tsunoda clearly get along well, it has been reported in European news outlets that Verstappen is not happy at the decision to demote Lawson. In comments he made at the Chinese Grand Prix, it was clear he felt sorry for the 23-year-old who was clearly struggling to adapt to the car.
Explaining the decision to make the drive swap so early in the new season, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner said he, driver academy chief Helmut Marko and the shareholders had come to the conclusion that Tsunoda’s F1 experience was important to help them develop the car and make it more compliant.
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