It is no secret that the Red Bull second seat has been a struggle for whoever has taken control of that car in recent years; however, this season has been the most prevalent in that of the struggles, with Liam Lawson lasting just two races, and now Yuki Tsunoda struggling with that car.
Despite recent major changes within the Red Bull team, a spearhead figure in Helmut Marko remains at the forefront of operations, and in his weekly column for Speedweek.com, he was positive about Tsunoda and his and the team’s chances ahead of the second half of the season.
Helmut Marko is positive on Yuki Tsunoda’s improvement
During his recent weekly column, Helmut Marko spoke about the improvement of Tsunoda in the British GP and looked forward to what we can expect. Marko noted an upward trend recently, culminating in a strong start to the British GP weekend for Tsunoda.
“The gap to Max was smaller than before in most of the free practice sessions, and he was able to start from eleventh place on the grid in England.” Tsunoda, unfortunately, finished 15th in this race, which Marko attributed to the extreme wing used and the rain interference.
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Marko also touched upon recent discussions the team has had with Tsunoda, citing, “he also works with sports psychologists.” Hoping this can be a way to propel him forward for the remaining twelve races. Marko finished his section about Tsunoda with some more positivity towards the Japanese driver, “But we’re noticing an improvement in performance, and we’re optimistic that this will soon be reflected in the points.”
Red Bull aims for the second half of the season.
Helmut Marko was ambitious in his column with Speedweek.com, claiming, “We are not writing off the title.” With big changes in place and Marko claiming more upgrades are on the way for the Belgium GP, he was optimistic and refusing to give up on the title challenge just yet.
👀| Helmut Marko remains positive on Verstappen’s chances as he says Red Bull are “far from writing off the title. “
With 12 more races to go, the Austrian is determined to get Verstappen back in the fight👇”#F1 #BelgianGPhttps://t.co/qXZMfj5eKl
— Fastest Pitstop (@FastestPitStop) July 14, 2025
With twelve races and five sprint races remaining this season, that leaves 300 points on the table, and 32 from the sprint races. Marko claimed, “We certainly don’t see the fight for the World Championship as over.” With Tsunoda looking like he is starting to improve, can he be a catalyst to help push Red Bull forward and bring them into a championship fight this season?
