Yuki Tsunoda's Future in Formula 1: Red Bull's Support for Another Opportunity
Yuki Tsunoda’s Formula 1 career is on pause, not finished. And inside Red Bull, there’s at least one powerful voice adamant he has earned the right to press play again.
Laurent Mekies, now Red Bull Racing team principal, believes the Japanese driver deserves “another opportunity” on the grid after being dropped from a full-time seat at the end of 2025 and shunted into a reserve role.
From Verstappen’s wingman to the sidelines
Tsunoda’s demotion was brutal but simple. His 2025 season with Red Bull never ignited. Thirty points from 22 grands prix left him 17th in the championship, a stark, unforgiving contrast to team-mate Max Verstappen’s run to second in the standings.
In a team that measures everything against Verstappen, that gap proved fatal.
Red Bull turned to Isack Hadjar, promoted on the back of a sharp rookie year with sister outfit Racing Bulls, highlighted by a podium at Zandvoort. Tsunoda, after four seasons at Racing Bulls and one shot in the senior team, found himself on the outside looking in.
Yet inside the factory, his value hasn’t vanished.
“Yuki is doing a great job with us, not only as a reserve driver, but also as a simulator driver,” Mekies said on the Beyond the Grid podcast. For a team chasing tiny gains, that “deep, recent experience of the car” has become a quiet asset, even if it’s hidden away from the Sunday cameras.
Mekies didn’t disguise where he thinks Tsunoda truly belongs.
“Of course, we wish for him that there is an opportunity that comes soon because racing drivers are meant to race. And that's what we wish for Yuki.”
Red Bull’s second-seat problem
Tsunoda’s case is tangled up in a bigger Red Bull question: the second car.
“We are conscious that we haven't been as strong as we would have liked in the past in terms of the second-car performance at Red Bull Racing,” Mekies admitted. The team has lived this story before – a dominant lead driver, a revolving door on the other side of the garage, and too many weekends where only one car threatened the front.
That context matters for Tsunoda. He didn’t do enough over 2025, but Mekies is adamant the raw material is still there.
“It's fair to say that Yuki has shown significant speed in the past and we wish for him that another opportunity comes along the way.”
The message is clear: Red Bull may not be able to offer him a race seat, but the team principal is effectively vouching for him to the rest of the paddock.
Hadjar seizes his moment
The problem for Tsunoda is that the man who took his place is wasting no time justifying the decision.
Hadjar has stepped into a tricky situation – a troublesome RB22 and the small matter of Verstappen on the other side of the garage – and looked immediately at home. Three grands prix in, and he already has a highlight reel.
Pole-level pace on debut qualifying in Melbourne? Not quite, but close enough: third on the grid, a statement lap that turned heads up and down the pit lane. Points in China. And at Suzuka, in front of Tsunoda’s home fans, Hadjar did something Tsunoda never managed in a Red Bull: he outqualified the reigning world champion.
“Isack is in a great place right now,” Mekies said before the Japanese Grand Prix. The Frenchman has thrown himself into the role with the kind of obsession modern F1 demands.
He moved to London “in the early days of January.” He’s at the factory “every other day.” He lives in the simulator, soaking up engineering detail, process, and pressure.
“I think he even flew back between the two Bahrain tests just to try more stuff on the simulators and flew back to Bahrain. So, credit to him for the level of commitment.”
For Hadjar, this isn’t sacrifice. It’s the life he wanted.
“The truth is, he's not making an effort, that’s what he loves to do. He has been living, dreaming about that moment for a long time, and for him, it's his dream.”
That intensity is already bleeding into performance.
“I think the first two races show that it's already showing the right results. He has been able to show the right speed straight away. I'm sure he will remember his first qualifying with us with a P3 in Melbourne, and it's a long season that will be up and down.
“We believe drivers make steps and we expect steps from Isack this year and we think he has all the right talents and all the right approach to be able to make these steps.”
One seat closed, another still to find
All of that leaves Tsunoda in a cruel position. The man who replaced him is thriving. The team boss who moved him aside is publicly backing him.
Red Bull’s second car looks more secure than it has in years. Hadjar is delivering enough speed and hunger to justify patience. That likely slams the door on any short-term Red Bull return for Tsunoda.
But Mekies’ words matter. Inside a paddock where reputations can fade quickly once a driver leaves the grid, the Red Bull team principal has effectively planted a flag: Tsunoda is still quick, still valuable, still worth a seat.
He’s not racing on Sundays. Not yet. The question now is which team will decide that “another opportunity” is worth the gamble.
