2024 Formula 1 driver rankings #12: Yuki Tsunoda · RaceFans

It’s hard not to feel some sympathy for Yuki Tsunoda as he embarks on his fifth season at Red Bull’s second team knowing he has missed his best chance yet to join the leading squad.

That was despite the 24-year-old delivering the most consistently convincing performance of his career to date in 2024, with a car which was only ever capable of low-end points finishes at best.

Tsunoda outpaced Daniel Ricciardo, the much more experienced driver he shared the team with over the opening rounds. He also largely avoided the kind of unnecessary incidents he tended to get involved in previously. Indeed, on the occasions his race ended early, one of his rivals was often to blame, such as Kevin Magnussen (China), Nico Hulkenberg (Italy) or Lance Stroll (Azerbaijan).

He was particularly impressive over the opening races where the RB was at its best. Over the first eight rounds he scored five times, including a fine seventh in Australia featuring an excellent pass on Pierre Gasly and another seventh in Miami ahead of George Russell’s Mercedes.

What his season really lacked was a stand-out performance to make Red Bull sit up and take notice. The closest to that came in Brazil where he qualified a superb third in wet conditions and might have finished higher had his team not wasted the strategic opportunity which Max Verstappen and the Alpine driver exploited to sweep the podium positions.

On his worst days, Tsunoda was generally no more than ineffective. He didn’t click with the Shanghai International Circuit on his first visit to it and looked rather lost. He committed one of his most notable errors in Canada, spinning in tricky conditions.

Once Liam Lawson replaced Ricciardo, Tsunoda faltered slightly. He was eclipsed by the newcomer in Austin, then crashed in qualifying in Mexico, only to rebound superbly in Brazil.

At the end of the year Tsunoda could point to a clear superiority in terms of points and performance at RB: he reached Q3 11 times to a combined four for Lawson and Ricciardo. But it still wasn’t enough to sway Red Bull into promoting him. Were some still remembering that bizarre moment after the first race of the season where, having been told to let Ricciardo past him, he threw his car down the inside of his team mate after the race, unnecessarily risking a collision?

RaceFans’ driver rankings are based partly on the scores awarded to drivers for their performances in each round as well as other factors.

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