{"id":60182,"date":"2025-08-10T23:30:07","date_gmt":"2025-08-10T23:30:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/60182\/"},"modified":"2025-08-10T23:30:07","modified_gmt":"2025-08-10T23:30:07","slug":"where-yuki-tsunoda-stands-in-red-bulls-2026-plans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/60182\/","title":{"rendered":"Where Yuki Tsunoda stands in Red Bull’s 2026 plans"},"content":{"rendered":"

When the 2025 season began, few could have predicted that Liam Lawson would be replaced by Yuki Tsunoda<\/a> after just two races. Red Bull\u2019s almost instant decision to throw Tsunoda into the deep-end was an admission that Lawson was promoted too early.<\/p>\n

However, the circumstances that surrounded Tsunoda\u2019s Red Bull ascension were essentially a worst-case scenario.<\/p>\n

Without pre-season or any real preparation, the 25-year-old has been forced to adapt to a notoriously difficult car.<\/p>\n

Red Bull are conscious of the awkward position they put Tsunoda in<\/a>, which is why they have no intention of replacing him before the year ends.<\/p>\n

Looking ahead to 2026, however, things are less clear.<\/p>\n

\"\"Yuki Tsunoda in Budapest, Hungary. (Photo by Mark Thompson\/Getty Images) \/\/ Getty Images \/ Red Bull Content Pool
\nTsunoda safe until the end of 2025, Red Bull to re-evaluate after season ends<\/p>\n

A combination of factors have impacted Tsunoda\u2019s performance at Red Bull.<\/p>\n

His first few Grand Prix in the RB21 were relatively encouraging, scoring points in his second race with P9 in Bahrain. Considering that Verstappen<\/a> only managed 6th in Bahrain, this was an impressive outing for Tsunoda \u2013 in context of his virtually non-existent preparation.<\/p>\n

It should also be noted that Red Bull\u2019s simulator does not effectively replicate the RB21\u2019s behaviour.<\/p>\n

Because of this, anyone joining Red Bull<\/a> \u2013 particularly mid-season \u2013 faces an uphill challenge in adapting to the car.<\/p>\n

Tsunoda reached Q3 in Jeddah after his first points in Bahrain. Although an unfortunate first lap incident meant he left Jeddah empty-handed, his pace was solid enough.<\/p>\n

Finishing 6th in the Miami Sprint and 10th on Sunday, while far from spectacular, created a generally positive perception of his start to life at Red Bull.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately for Tsunoda, his crash in qualifying at Imola had massive ramifications. After his crash, the Japanese driver went several races without the same specification as Verstappen.<\/p>\n

It was only before qualifying in Belgium, where Tsunoda qualified 7th, that his #22 car received Red Bull\u2019s newest floor.<\/p>\n

During this spell without the upgraded RB21, the 25-year-old has struggled.<\/p>\n

Even teammate Verstappen is increasingly fighting a losing battle, with the reigning Champion only managing 9th in Hungary \u2013 in a race where midfield teams like Aston Martin were legitimately faster<\/a>.<\/p>\n

All things considered, Tsunoda joined Red Bull at a very poor time with no preparation. As mentioned previously, Red Bull \u2013 especially under the leadership of Laurent Mekies \u2013 are conscious of this.<\/p>\n

There is no prospect of the Milton Keynes outfit making another knee-jerk swap before the end of 2025.<\/p>\n

At the same time, there are still big decisions to be made for next year.<\/p>\n

Why Red Bull are chasing stability<\/p>\n

In an ideal world, Red Bull\u2019s preference would be for Tsunoda to start securing better results and establish itself.<\/p>\n

Yet another driver swap before 2026 would just add to the instability and uncertainty that has been so detrimental over the last eighteen months.<\/p>\n

\"\"Yuki Tsunoda prepares to drive during final practice. (Photo by Mark Thompson\/Getty Images) \/\/ Getty Images \/ Red Bull Content Pool<\/p>\n

There is little reason to believe either of VCARB\u2019s drivers, Lawson or Hadjar, would be better equipped to drive alongside Verstappen.<\/p>\n

Isack Hadjar<\/a> has even shut down suggestions he is ready to drive for Red Bull. It is virtually unheard of for a driver to shy away from a promotion to the main team- evidencing why replacing Tsunoda is not Red Bull\u2019s first choice.<\/p>\n

Laurent Mekies, having been VCARB team principal before Tsunoda left, and rates him very highly.<\/p>\n

Helmut Marko<\/a> was always more positive about the 25-year-old\u2019s potential than Christian Horner<\/a> was. This is another positive for the Red Bull driver\u2019s 2026 prospects.<\/p>\n

At the same time, this is not to say that Tsunoda can relax.<\/p>\n

Assuming Red Bull recover from their Hungary disaster (and he runs with the same parts as Verstappen), the #22 car must be closer to Verstappen.<\/p>\n

Q3 appearances must again become the norm, and points finishes should be standard practice.<\/p>\n

Should he fail to achieve this, his position at Milton Keynes \u2013 and F1 \u2013 will be under genuine threat.<\/p>\n

With no obvious alternatives in the market, Red Bull are working intensely to reverse Tsunoda\u2019s fortunes.<\/p>\n

The team have recognised their own culpability in producing with such problematic characteristics.<\/p>\n

Only time will tell if the Austrian team is successful in getting their second driver firing.<\/p>\n

Main photo: Mark Thompson\/Getty Images (via Red Bull content pool)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When the 2025 season began, few could have predicted that Liam Lawson would be replaced by Yuki Tsunoda…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":60183,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[441],"tags":[49,48,578,36899,576,577,2190,82,39481],"class_list":["post-60182","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-formula-1","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-f1","tag-f1-2025-season","tag-formula-1","tag-formula1","tag-red-bull-racing","tag-sports","tag-tsunoda"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60182","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=60182"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60182\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/60183"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=60182"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=60182"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=60182"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}