Yuki Tsunoda told what he needs to do to get into Christian Horner’s good books during the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix

Yuki Tsunoda was nearly a second off Max Verstappen in qualifying for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, but he managed to get into the top ten places.

The Japanese driver had to rebuild his confidence after crashing in FP2, following a mistake at the final corner, which destroyed the right-hand side of his Red Bull.

While he was no match for Verstappen’s blistering pace, which earned him a surprise pole ahead of Oscar Piastri, Tsunoda did qualify ahead of Lando Norris. The Briton crashed exiting Turn 4 during his first timed effort in Q3, bringing out the red flags and effectively consigning him to P10 on the grid.

With Tsunoda starting ahead, racing driver Sam Bird believes the Japanese driver could do something that impresses his Red Bull team when speaking on the BBC Chequered Flag podcast.

Yuki Tsunoda should hold up Lando Norris in Saudi Arabian Grand Prix

Red Bull is known for being aggressive on its strategy in races and there could be an opportunity to beat McLaren in the race at Jeddah.

Starting from P8 on the grid, Tsunoda will be two places ahead of Norris on the grid at the start of the race. Barring any bad start, Bird believes he could become useful strategically for Red Bull.

“I’m looking at that grid and I’m wondering, what do Red Bull do with Yuki Tsunoda? Because they know Norris could be a threat at the end of the race,” said Bird.

“Do they throw Tsunoda under the bus to hold Norris back, to stop him from maximising his race?”

Lando Norris could lose Drivers’ Championship lead after 34 days

Norris heads into the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix as the championship leader, but he could emerge behind Verstappen if he wins and fails to finish inside the top three.

Verstappen would earn 25 points for a victory in Jeddah, whereas Norris would need at least 15 points to emerge ahead of him heading into the Miami GP.

It would also mean Norris would have held onto the championship lead for just 34 days, with Verstappen retaking it, having lost it for the first time since May 2022 at the start of the season.

It would be an impressive turnaround for the Dutchman, considering Red Bull are not on par with McLaren in terms of performance.