Up Next
Red Bull team boss Christian Horner has admitted Yuki Tsunoda probably needs to be released if he is not needed by the senior team in 2025.
Tsunoda has been passed over for a Red Bull Racing promotion as the team has opted to pick Liam Lawson to replace Sergio Perez, despite Tsunoda’s greater experience and strong form against other Red Bull drivers over the last two seasons.
Nyck de Vries, Daniel Ricciardo and Lawson have all been paired with Tsunoda at Red Bull’s second team across 2023 and 2024, and Tsunoda has come out on top in qualifying and race comparisons against all of them.
However, Horner believes that the “very tight” margins in qualifying reflect well on Lawson given his experience deficit – he has only started 11 grands prix – while Red Bull’s analysis claims that Lawson is also stronger than Tsunoda on race pace.
Tsunoda remains part of the Red Bull family in 2025, the final year his primary backer Honda will be the engine supplier to the two Red Bull teams.
But when speaking to media including The Race, Horner diverged from an answer about Honda leaving driver choices solely down to Red Bull to strongly hint that Tsunoda will not be held back at the sister team for much longer.
Get Scott and Edd's take on Red Bull's F1 driver policy in person when The Race F1 Podcast goes LIVE in London and Birmingham in January
“We're acutely aware that if we're not able to provide an opportunity for Yuki – being, in all honesty, this year [2025] - does it make sense [to keep him]?” Horner said.
“You can't have a driver in the support team for five years. You can't always be the bridesmaid.
“You've either got to let them go at that point or look at something different.”
Other teams including Haas and Sauber (under old Audi management) were known to have interest in Tsunoda before Red Bull activated its option on him for 2025.
A problem for Tsunoda is that many teams have their line-ups set through the first year of the new car and engine rules in 2026 – although a new team, Cadillac, is joining the grid, and Honda’s switch to Aston Martin could potentially open a door there longer-term.
And Horner's admission could be helpful because it makes it clear to Tsunoda he should seriously look around at alternatives, and puts other teams on notice early that he will most likely be available.
Tsunoda was asked throughout this year about his future in Red Bull and F1 in general, given his place in the pecking order has always seemed too low to progress to the senior team, and constantly expressed his confusion and frustration that he was likely to be overlooked.
He seemed to be optimistic his performance driving the Red Bull in the post-season Abu Dhabi test might boost his case at the last minute, but that was always framed as a favour to Honda more than anything else and it has proven to make no difference.
Although Horner indicated Red Bull would be open to letting Tsunoda go, he also dangled the carrot that he may be needed after all – and that performing well at Racing Bulls again in 2025 needed to be Tsunoda’s primary focus, so that he is first in the queue should an opportunity arise.
“I spoke with Yuki,” said Horner.
“He said he was enjoying having some wagyu beef while he was on his time out, but his motivation was to demonstrate that he warrants that opportunity.
“The Racing Bulls team will hopefully make a step forward again next year as they utilise the [Red Bull] rear suspension and the gearbox, and the aspects that they're allowed to use.
“As that team and new management matures, that team will naturally take a step forward.
“I think he's very determined. He knows that things change very quickly.
“Who would've thought nine months ago we'd be sitting here talking about Liam Lawson being our driver for 2025?
“Things change quickly in this industry and he's aware of that and knows that he needs to be the one demonstrating that he's the one knocking on the door.”
