Yuki Tsunoda believes Red Bull has now recognised a car specification discrepancy made a "huge difference" to his performances before Formula 1's summer break, and says he now has a clearer idea of how much time he has to save his seat.
Tsunoda has not scored a point since the Imola round in May, an event where his heavy qualifying crash sparked a long run of being behind team-mate Max Verstappen on key upgrades including new floors.
That deficit was finally ended in the middle of the Belgian Grand Prix weekend and led to a clear, immediate improvement in one-lap pace at Spa and then the following race in Hungary, although Tsunoda's point-less streak was still extended to seven races.
As his form has been patchy at best since replacing Liam Lawson after just two rounds of the 2025 season, Tsunoda's place at Red Bull for 2026 is far from guaranteed and there have been indications Red Bull is currently leaning towards promoting Isack Hadjar to partner Verstappen next year instead.
However, as the season resumes at this weekend's Dutch GP, Tsunoda said he believes Red Bull is willing to give him more time now it has fully understood the impact his compromised car specification had on his form at its worst.
"Definitely I have to show more," Tsunoda said when asked what team boss Laurent Mekies and Red Bull motorsport advisor Helmut Marko had said about keeping his seat.
"But actually the last two races before the summer break, that helps a little bit. Probably they didn't recognise that much, especially Helmut, the difference between me and Max in terms of the package differences.
"As soon as they introduced that [new package on my car], my pace was suddenly much improved. Hungary, the difference between me and Max was very small since practice, and that shows that, 'Actually, hold on, maybe there's some potential'.
"I just [need to] keep doing what I'm doing but also at the same time still have to put it all together throughout the week, you can't just rely on the pace, I need to score points.
"And in terms of the time, we kind of agreed what kind of time we are looking for, for me to show the good performance in order to then decide what kind of contract they want for next year."
That is a strong implication that Red Bull has effectively set a deadline for Tsunoda to prove he is the right driver to partner Verstappen beyond this season.
Should it not, then Tsunoda might find a reprieve back at Red Bull's second team Racing Bulls, where he had raced since 2021 prior to his promotion earlier this year.
But that is considered unlikely because if he was sidelined for Hadjar then Red Bull is understood to be keen to promote Arvid Lindblad to an F1 seat with its second team alongside Lawson, whose form has improved significantly since being back at Racing Bulls again.
Tsunoda confessed he did not know if returning to the second team is an option and instead reiterated his belief that Red Bull's review of his pre-August form had gone in his favour.
"Maybe Helmut is thinking [about it] in the background [but] you never know what he's thinking, to be honest," said Tsunoda.
"For now I understand he's looking still for me to show performance, and I think the last two races actually, like I said, after I put the upgrade on, there's some recognition that there's actually a huge difference.
"I think that helps me to get a bit more time to see how this situation evolves.
"He's supporting me quite a lot, but obviously he's also quite a straightforward guy, he's here for the team and he wants to have points as much as possible.
"So, I need to perform for sure. But if I understand correctly, he's still waiting a bit of time to define what's good for Red Bull."
It is still actually unclear exactly what spec the two Red Bulls are running in terms of the finest details as Tsunoda himself admitted he did not know "specifically".
But the key development is Tsunoda not lagging behind the newest floor. And Tsunoda was also optimistic his working relationships within the team are on an upward trajectory too, after a recent miscommunication at Spa cost him an almost certain points finish.
"Our relationship is still young, and some protocols...unfortunately sometimes you need to experience that, and find out a new thing," he said.
"Afterwards we set some protocols and routines to avoid those situations.
"But just for these things, especially jumping into the season, without any off-season tests that will normally give that practice, where we were busy quite a lot and we have to talk about a lot of stuff - these things are understandable.
"That kind of experience gives better ideas for us, what we can do better for conversation, communication for the future.
"So as long as we don't repeat it and make it better for next time, I'm OK."
