Red Bull’s Yuki Tsunoda arrived in Formula 1 in 2021 at just 20 years old. He quickly gained attention for his speed and sometimes fiery radio messages. Despite early challenges, Tsunoda’s growth as a racer has impressed both his team and Honda backers.
In the 2023 season, Tsunoda shone even in an underperforming car, proving his talent and maturity. His team boss Franz Tost had predicted it would take three seasons for Tsunoda to adjust to F1, and Tsunoda seems to have fulfilled that expectation.
Transitioning from AlphaTauri to RB or VCARB, Tsunoda, now 24, has shown improvement that even his experienced teammate Daniel Ricciardo has struggled to match. As Red Bull improved this year, Tsunoda consistently made it to Q3 and scored points in five races. His recent off-track incident at the wet-to-dry Canadian Grand Prix was seen as uncharacteristic.
Despite his strong performances, Red Bull hasn’t shown serious interest in promoting Tsunoda to their main team. Red Bull’s Christian Horner doubts Tsunoda can pair effectively with Max Verstappen. Helmut Marko, however, remains open to Tsunoda’s future promotion, suggesting it may come in time.
Marko acknowledged Tsunoda’s delayed but significant development, stating, “His development is really good, although it came a little bit later than we expected, but he is now a top driver I would say.”
Regarding his future, Tsunoda expressed some frustration but affirmed his commitment to Red Bull. He stated, “I’m already committed to Red Bull a lot and hopefully I can have a bit more commitment from them.”
For the 2025 season, Red Bull exercised an option to retain Tsunoda, solidifying his place despite rumors linking him to other teams like Audi and Aston Martin. Tsunoda’s decision to stay with Red Bull aligns with the team’s evolving identity and performance goals.
Team principal Laurent Mekies praised Tsunoda’s progress, emphasizing his impressive speed and maturity improvements. Mekies sees Tsunoda as crucial to their future plans, recognizing his potential to continue evolving as a top-tier driver.
Mekies acknowledged Tsunoda’s ambitions to join Red Bull Racing and believes continued improvement could make him hard to overlook. He affirmed, “If he does another step like that next year, he will be difficult to ignore for anyone.”
Despite Red Bull’s reservations, Tsunoda’s current team values him highly, benefiting from his evolving skills and dedication.
