Christian Horner has confirmed that Yuki Tsunoda will drive the RB20 within the post-season check in Abu Dhabi.
The Japanese is hoping that the transfer is a prelude to a doable promotion to the ‘large crew’, ought to Sergio Perez be given his marching orders, however it’s broadly thought that it’s merely to appease Honda.
Talking in Mexico, crew boss Christian Horner insisted that the check had been on the playing cards for a while.
“Yuki is a member of the junior crew, and it is one thing that we’ve mentioned with Honda,” he instructed reporters. “He’ll check the automobile on the tyre check following the conclusion of the season, and it is one thing that has been agreed for fairly a while.
“It will likely be good to offer him a run and get the chance to work with Purple Bull’s engineers and see how he performs in a Purple Bull automobile,” he added.
Apart from an outing at Goodwood within the RB18, will probably be the Japanese driver’s first time in modern Purple Bull equipment.
In fact, with persevering with doubts over the way forward for Sergio Perez, some will see the transfer as an indication that Tsunoda is being thought-about as a substitute, although it’s broadly thought that present teammate Liam Lawson is a shoo-in.
“Checo has a contract for subsequent yr, so he is at the moment our driver for 2025,” insisted Horner. “Clearly there’s a seat accessible at VCARB, however they’re all Purple Bull Racing drivers which can be on mortgage.
“We are going to take pleasure in time to take a seat down with Laurent and Peter and have a look at all of the choices,” he added.
If nothing else, come the crew Christmas Get together, the swear field would comprise greater than sufficient to pay for all the things.
Take a look at our Friday gallery from Mexico Metropolis right here.
