Yuki Tsunoda is set to keep his seat at RB next year and extend his Formula One career to a fifth season, according to Red Bull’s motorsport consultant Helmut Marko.
Speaking to Kleine Zeitung, the influential Marko is also quoted as saying he has agreed a truce in his strained relationship with Red Bull boss Christian Horner, to enable them to focus clearly on ensuring the champion recover its winning form.
On Japanese driver Tsunoda’s future, after he had failed to gain a promotion from RB to the senior Red Bull team alongside three-time world champion Max Verstappen, Marko said: “Yuki Tsunoda is set. That’s clear.”
And on his relationship with Horner who has been troubled this season, notably by allegations of controlling behaviour from a female team member, Marko said: “We have made a truce.
“We will have to join forces. Even if we are no longer superior, we want to win. But we definitely need to make the most of it and look towards the world title.”
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Horner and Marko have been embroiled in a power struggle for greater control of the team and parent company since the death of Red Bull founder Dietrich Mateschitz.
But recent results that have seen Verstappen struggling and beaten in two of the last three races have persuaded them to put their differences aside in the interests of the team.
Tsunoda missed out on landing a seat at Red Bull when the team chose to extend the contract of Sergio Perez instead.
Before Perez’s new deal was announced, Tsunoda had said he was ready to leave the Red Bull squad if he was overlooked, but added: “I also have a big loyalty to Red Bull as without them I wouldn’t be here.”
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