Yuki Tsunoda may deserve another shot in Formula 1, but a return to Red Bull looks firmly off the table.<\/p>\n
After four seasons with Red Bull\u2019s sister team, Tsunoda was given his long-awaited Red Bull promotion at round three of the F1 2025 season. However, he wasn\u2019t able to bring in the results that the team required.<\/p>\n
Yuki Tsunoda backed for another Formula 1 opportunity<\/p>\n
Want more PlanetF1.com coverage? Add us as a preferred source on Google<\/a> to your favourites list for news you can trust<\/p>\n Tsunoda<\/a> scored just 30 points in 22 grand prix weekends, and while he felt he had done enough in a difficult RB21 to retain the seat, Red Bull demoted him to a reserve driver role with Hadjar promoted in his stead.<\/p>\n Tsunoda has instead been working behind the scenes on Red Bull\u2019s all-new RB22, using his previous knowledge of both the Red Bull and Racing Bulls F1 cars to help the teams develop.<\/p>\n The role of reserve driver, though, is never the highlight for a racing driver as team principal Mekies acknowledges.<\/p>\n He believes the Japanese driver has shown enough to earn himself a racing seat, but with \u201canother opportunity\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cYuki is doing a great job with us, not only as a reserve driver, but also as a simulator driver,\u201d Mekies told the Beyond the Grid podcast.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s great to have somebody that has such deep, recent experience of the car that can help us behind the scenes.<\/p>\n \u201cOf course, we wish for him that there is an opportunity that comes soon because racing drivers are meant to race. And that\u2019s what we wish for Yuki.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are conscious that we haven\u2019t been as strong as we would have liked in the past in terms of the second-car performance at Red Bull Racing and it\u2019s something we are taking the learnings, we are trying to improve day after day.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s fair to say that Yuki has shown significant speed in the past and we wish for him that another opportunity comes along the way.\u201d<\/p>\n F1 2026: The season\u2019s winners and losers<\/p>\n The results of the F1 2026 championship <\/a><\/p>\n The F1 2026 Drivers\u2019 and Constructors\u2019 Championship standings<\/a><\/p>\n As for Hadjar, the Frenchman has been impressed with the new Red Bull signing.<\/p>\n Stepping up after just a season with Racing Bulls, Hadjar was fighting for a potential podium finish at the Australian Grand Prix when his RB22 suffered an engine issue. He scored his first points in Red Bull colours in China, before finishing P12 in Japan.<\/p>\n He has also been inside the top ten in all three grand prix qualifying sessions.<\/p>\n \u201cIsack is in a great place right now,\u201d said Mekies. \u201cHe has done, I think, everything he could have done to maximise his integration with the team.<\/p>\n \u201cHe moved to London in the early days of January. He\u2019s at the factory every other day. He spends as much time as he can in the simulator, trying to understand all the engineering parts around the car. He has been as keen as you can be.<\/p>\n \u201cI 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.<\/p>\n \u201cBut the truth is, he\u2019s not making an effort, that\u2019s what he loves to do. He has been living, dreaming about that moment for a long time, and for him, it\u2019s his dream.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s our dream to be able to spend time and energy in the simulator or with the engineer. So he has been doing that very intensely. I think the first two races show that it\u2019s already showing the right results.<\/p>\n \u201cHe has been able to show the right speed straight away. I\u2019m sure he will remember his first qualifying with us with a P3 in Melbourne, and it\u2019s a long season that will be up and down.<\/p>\n \u201cWe 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.\u201d<\/p>\n Want to be the first to know exclusive information from the F1 paddock? Join our broadcast channel on WhatsApp<\/a> to get the scoop on the latest developments from our team of accredited journalists.<\/p>\n You can also subscribe to the PlanetF1 YouTube channel<\/a> for exclusive features, hear from our paddock journalists with stories from the heart of Formula 1 and much more!<\/p>\n