Helmut Marko believes that Max Verstappen now has a Red Bull team-mate who can flirt with his level of performance in Yuki Tsunoda.

The Red Bull senior advisor makes that assessment of Tsunoda after four race weekends with the team for the Japanese racer, who has scored points on three occasions, finishing P9 in Bahrain and P10 in Miami, while he crossed the line sixth in the Miami sprint.

Yuki Tsunoda: Max Verstappen’s strongest Red Bull team-mate yet?

Tsunoda stepped up to the second Red Bull seat from Round 3 in Japan, after Liam Lawson was sent back to Racing Bulls following a harrowing experience with the senior team, as Tsunoda moved the other way.

And while Tsunoda’s results have paled in comparison to Verstappen’s so far – Tsunoda’s six points scored with Red Bull falling well below Verstappen’s 63 in that timeframe – Marko senses that Tsunoda is growing into a team-mate to “get a taste” of delivering the kind of performance which reigning four-time World Champion Verstappen can.

Tsunoda pipped Isack Hadjar of junior team Racing Bulls to the final point in Miami, so when put to him by OE24 that this must have pleased Red Bull, Marko replied: “Yes, Yuki is getting better and better.

“He’s the first [Verstappen] team-mate to get a taste of Max’s performance.”

However, Marko pinpointed the area which he believes continues to let Tsunoda down at times.

“Unfortunately, he still makes mistakes when the pressure increases,” Marko stated.

Max Verstappen vs Yuki Tsunoda head-to-head

👉 F1 2025: Head-to-head race statistics between team-mates

👉 F1 2025: Head-to-head qualifying statistics between team-mates

The Miami Grand Prix was a challenging race weekend overall for Red Bull, as while Verstappen made it back-to-back pole positions, he ultimately could do no more than delay the surge of the McLarens to the front of the pack, Oscar Piastri ultimately winning and heading a McLaren one-two from Lando Norris.

Verstappen was forced to settle for P4, 40 seconds off Piastri at the chequered flag, with the ideal timing of the Virtual Safety Car helping Mercedes’ George Russell to leapfrog the Red Bull.

“We simply weren’t fast enough,” Marko summarised. “Over one lap, Max is right there, he makes up for a lot with his ability, which I call the Max factor. But unfortunately we saw in the race that the McLaren can go at an incredible speed.

“[The 40-second gap] is really a lot, and it would have been even more if Max hadn’t driven ahead of the McLaren on the first few laps and slowed them down.

“As George Russell’s third place shows, Mercedes is even stronger. So we really have to come up with something.”

Red Bull sit P3 in the Constructors’ Championship, 36 points behind Mercedes and 141 off leaders McLaren.

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