Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull demo run goes up in smoke during first V8 experience

Yuki Tsunoda was forced to end his donuts in the Red Bull early in a fiery moment at a promotional event in Taiwan.

Following last weekend’s Singapore Grand Prix, Formula 1 is into its month-long break ahead of the season resumption in Austin, but that did not stop Tsunoda getting behind the wheel of an F1 car as he headed for Taiwan, where his donuts display for the fans ended prematurely.

Yuki Tsunoda exits flaming Red Bull RB8

Tsunoda was at the wheel of Red Bull’s 2012 double-title winning RB8, in which Sebastian Vettel claimed the third of his four consecutive World titles with Red Bull .

Tsunoda had the chance to put that Red Bull challenger through its paces as part of a promotional event in Taichung, Taiwan.

However, as the Japanese racer began performing donuts for the crowd, he was forced to stop early, Taiwan’s TVBS News capturing the moment Tsunoda halted the RB8 as the Red Bull crew came running over to extinguish the smoke and flames which were emerging, as Tsunoda made his exit from the cockpit to assess the situation.

That was Tsunoda’s first time driving a V8-powered F1 car, those engines having made way for the V6 hybrid power units used in the series since 2014.

But while the situation was far from ideal, it did not dampen the mood too much as Tsunoda addressed the audience.

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“That was amazing. Thank you for a lot of support,” said Tsunoda.

“I saw a lot of people waving their flags, waving their hands. Definitely I saw every single moment and I hope you guys enjoyed the first Formula 1 [event] in Taiwan.

“I tried my best. I’m sure you guys enjoyed V6 [sic] sound! Actually first time me as well driving a V8, so yeah, it was amazing. Thank you for the support. It was a nice, successful event.”

Tsunoda – who has raced with the Red Bull second team since his F1 debut in 2021 – will have a different team-mate on the other side of the VCARB garage once F1 2024 resumes with the United States Grand Prix after the call was made to axe Daniel Ricciardo with immediate effect as Liam Lawson takes his place.

Lawson raced alongside Tsunoda for five rounds of the F1 2023 campaign as the Kiwi stepped in to replace the injured Ricciardo, Lawson scoring two points in that time thanks to his P9 finish in Singapore, while Tsunoda failed to score.

Speaking in Singapore ahead of Ricciardo’s exit announcement, Tsunoda brought up his respect for Ricciardo and the Aussie’s impact on his own career, helping to fill in the gaps in his skillset.

“I definitely respect him a lot, especially, like, the things he has are the things I don’t have,” said Tsunoda.

“Especially the emotional control and how he’s able to consistently being consistent to the team, I would say. I’m a bit more probably emotional, for example. Like if I have a bad session, whatever, for example, the quality of the feedback might be a little bit worse than usual, but he’s very consistent, and I think he understood more about the car. Well, like, he understood more about the situation and what things it will give positive to the team exactly.

“So, yeah, I learned a lot of things from him, and I’m still learning about that. And, yeah, those things I definitely respect him.”

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