Ralf Schumacher believes that Red Bull’s driver line-up for 2026 will leave Yuki Tsunoda without a seat as the Milton Keynes outfit is expected to promote Racing Bulls’ Isack Hadjar to the seat alongside Max Verstappen.
With the majority of the 2026 grid already confirmed, only Red Bull and its sister outfit are yet to confirm their line-ups ahead of Formula 1’s substantial regulation change. Verstappen, currently fighting for his fifth championship win, is under contract until the end of 2028, but his colleagues Tsunoda, Liam Lawson, Hadjar, and Red Bull junior Arvid Lindblad are each vying for their places in the energy drinks team.
Schumacher, a six-time race winner and brother of seven-time champion Michael Schumacher, has revealed what he predicts Red Bull will do with its pool of drivers.
“I think it’s pretty clear what will happen with Tsunoda,” he told Sky Germany, hinting that the Japanese driver will be dropped by the squad. “At least, that’s what I assume, because it’s obvious that nothing was going in any direction. Lawson was lucky in his misfortune that he was allowed to come back, stabilised himself, and just made it through,” he said.
Lawson began his 2025 campaign as team-mate to Verstappen, but was quickly dropped after poor performance over the first two race weekends. The New Zealander was replaced by Tsunoda, but the sister team stalwart also wasn’t able to extract the expected performance from the RB21.
Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, Yuki Tsunoda, Red Bull Racing Team
Photo by: Chris Graythen / Getty Images
Fortunately for Lawson, his time in the sister team has since been mildly successful, with him sitting ahead of the Japanese driver in the standings by eight points.
“And I have to say, he’ll have the chance to continue. I’m pretty sure of that, because you need a reliable driver in the team, one who knows the team, because everything will be new next year, of course.
“That means, very importantly, Tsunoda out, Hadjar over and Lindblad here.”
Hadjar is widely expected to be promoted to Red Bull to partner with the reigning champion, especially following his seemingly confident demeanour so far this weekend.
“I can have the worst weekend in history,” he said. “Now, it’s not going to change anything.”
While Red Bull management insists a decision is yet to be made on the matter, a final decision is expected to be revealed as the season comes to an end.
Photos from Qatar GP – Practice
Qatar GP – Friday, in photos
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