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Tsunoda has been conspicuously absent from conversations surrounding the second seat at Red Bull Racing as pressure mounts on Perez.
The Mexican has under-delivered in recent races such that it is now impacting on the team’s chances of winning the constructors’ championship.
It’s believed Perez was given two races to raise his game; last weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix, and this weekend’s Belgian event.
Should his form not improve satisfactorily, it’s understood Red Bull has the power to replace him mid-season.
Daniel Ricciardo and Liam Lawson have been flagged as possible drop-in replacements despite the fact Tsunoda is the best-performing Red Bull driver outside of Red Bull Racing.
“At this point I don’t know if they’re considering me, maybe they’re considering me, I don’t know,” Tsunoda said of his position.
“I guess it’s the same for everyone; I don’t think other drivers except Max [Verstappen] get any information about that.
“Probably they are having conversations in the background, hopefully I’m in the conversation.
“I think I’ve done what I should have done,” he added of his own performances.
“I’m happy with what I’ve done until today, and what should I do even more than that?
“It’s quite clear how many points I get compared to other drivers.
“So I’m happy with what I’ve done, it’s the things I can control.
“I can’t control those things, so I just focus on the things that I can control, which is performance, and see how it goes in this race.”
It’s believed a clause exists in Perez’s contract such that, if he is not within 100 points of team-mate Max Verstappen at the summer break, Red Bull Racing is free to replace him.
Verstappen tops the drivers’ championship with 265 points, while Perez is seventh on 124 – even with victory and the bonus point for fastest lap, and Verstappen failing to score this weekend, he will still be 15 points shy of that marker.
By contrast, Tsunoda is 12th in the standings with 22 points, double the tally of his RB team-mate, Ricciardo.
He also has a race contract signed that will keep him at RB for 2025 , though he’s naturally keen on upgrading if possible.
“If you see the previous races, since race one it’s quite clear how much I’ve improved on the tracks,” Tsunoda said of his own form and ability to deal with pressure.
“The amount of Q3 appearances, the amount of points taken on new tracks, I think that proves enough.
“Obviously this race will be important as well but we’ll see how it goes.
“As a driver there are a couple of races where I could have done better,” he added when asked what it would mean if he were overlooked for a Red Bull Racing promotion, and if that meant the end of the road with the team for him.
“For example, Montreal, I was in the points and I lost the points that were in my hands.
“But other times, just please compare the Q3 appearances, qualifying results and the race results, and it will be clear.
“So in my opinion, yes, it’s quite clear. But other than that, I don’t know.”
Despite his stronger results than Ricciardo, there have been no meaningful interactions with Red Bull Racing’s senior management, namely Christian Horner and Dr Helmut Marko, save a conversation over the Austrian Grand Prix.
“He told me in… when was it, Spain? No, Austria, or whatever, that the next three races will be important for the future,” Tsunoda said of a conversation with Marko.
“But I guess at that point, Austria wasn’t good so I was thinking ‘Okay maybe he’s talking about my future, about my Formula 1 seat rather than a Red Bull seat’, so I wasn’t really asking deeply about that.
“It’s kind of typical Helmut that if I didn’t perform well for two races or one race, immediately he comes to you and puts on pressure. So it’s kind of a usual day for me.
“Then after that you see Silverstone and Hungary was quite clear what I’ve done, and other than that I haven’t had any conversations with him.
“I guess it seems like there are also other factors obviously, because they are considering other drivers as well,” he added.
“It’s based on rumours, but… If you just see the performance, it’s quite clear like I said.
“It’s really clear that I’m the one performing well, even in the top of the midfield, if you compared to all the drivers.”
