Follow us on Google Discover Yuki Tsunoda is fighting not just for his Red Bull future, but for his place on the Formula 1 grid. And Laurent Mekies appears to be losing faith.
Tsunoda is out of contract at the end of the season and sits 17th in the championship, 14 places below teammate Max Verstappen. Isack Hadjar could take the Red Bull seat, leaving the Japanese driver scrapping for a place at his old team Racing Bulls.
The problem for Tsunoda is that he can’t seem to build any momentum. He delivered his best result as a Red Bull driver with P6 in Azerbaijan, but then failed to score in Singapore.
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Does Yuki Tsunoda deserve a place on the 2026 F1 grid?
This has largely been the story of his tenure. He’s only once scored in back-to-back Grands Prix – consecutive P10 finishes in Emilia Romagna and Monaco.
Laurent Mekies seems ‘confused’ by Yuki Tsunoda’s underperformance
One Autosport Web reporter was concerned for Tsunoda when he saw him trailing Verstappen by 1.3 seconds in the final practice session at Singapore. He asked Red Bull staff whether a car problem or traffic had contributed.
The ‘look on their faces’ told him that wasn’t the case, and this was Tsunoda’s real pace. He was later eliminated from Q2 in 13th place, having only reduced the gap to Verstappen to eight-tenths.
In the race, he gained one spot, but was nonetheless lapped as his teammate finished on the podium. Afterwards, the reporter spoke to Mekies on his way to the airport, and he seemed ‘just as confused as I was’.
This is clearly ‘not a good sign’ for Tsunoda’s future. The Red Bull boss couldn’t even offer an explanation as to why he was so far below par.
Hadjar is ‘almost certain’ to replace him, while Alex Dunne could land a Racing Bulls seat alongside Arvid Lindblad. That would dump Tsunoda off the grid.
Lando Norris’ subtle dig at Red Bull struggler Yuki Tsunoda
Tsunoda could join Aston Martin as a reserve driver, utilising his ties to Honda (Aston’s 2026 engine suppliers). Drivers like Daniel Ricciardo, Alex Albon and Esteban Ocon have all previously taken similar routes before returning to a full-time role.
Red Bull are sympathetic to Tsunoda because they now acknowledge that their car is difficult to drive, having seen multiple highly-rated stars struggle next to Verstappen. But even in that context, they’d expect better.
Lando Norris thinks Tsunoda is hurting Verstappen’s title bid, even though he isn’t posing a threat. He doesn’t have a teammate who can ‘push’ him to the next level, as Norris does in the form of Oscar Piastri.