Yuki Tsunoda is often referred to as a young F1 driver by the F1 media, yet the boy who came to Europe from Japan is set to complete his fourth year in the sport this weekend. Only Pierre Gasly has spent longer at Red Bull’s sister team and even he was offered a shot at the Big bull drive a year after joining Toro Rosso.

The fact that Sergio Perez will be replaced for next year should provide great hope for the twenty four year old who will be offered his first test in a current Red Bull car come the post season Pirelli session just days after the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Along with Sergio Perez, Yuki was offered a surprise new contract ahead of the 2024 Canadian Grand Prix, yet his comments at the time appeared to be divisive of the ten’s commitment to his future. “Apparently, even what Helmut says, Red Bull can play around with anything he wants,” Tsunoda claimed to assembled media in Montreal.

 

 

 

Red Bull contract means “nothing”

“Even the contract is almost nothing. To be honest, I didn’t read it properly. So whatever it says, I guess for now this team [RB] is where I’ll be.” Yuki may well have been unhappy with the fact that in four years with the racing organisation, he’s never been offered a test in the current Big Bull car and his new deal contained nothing to suggest this would happen anytime soon.

Red Bull Racing are currently piling the pressure on their Mexican driver to make the decision to retire, although even then the financial ramifications for the team will run into tens of millions. Yet the identity of who will become Max Verstappen’s first new team mate in four seasons is anyone’s guess.

Christian Horner’s interest was peaked by the emergence of Franco Colapinto when the young Argentinian was thrust into the Williams seat following the summary dismissal of the hapless Logan Sargeant. Colapinto was seen as an instant success as he pressed them mate Alex Albon more closely than others have before and he came home with the points in two of his first ever Grand Prix.

Hoer was seen in deep discussions with Williams boss James Vowles at the Mexican Grand Prix and a deal in principal was apparently agreed should Colapinto’s impressive start to his F1 career continue to the end of the season.

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Colapinto move now sidelined

Two huge crashes in Brazil for Franco appeared to turn the tide of his fortune as cash strapped Williams looked as though they may not be able to field two competitive cars next time out in Las Vegas. The team begged Mercedes for assistance given they buy in several key comports from the Brackley based squad including the suspension and between them Williams fielded two competitive cars for the race along the Strip.

A mistake and a first lap retirement in Qatar was the final nail in the coffin for the Argentinian’s hops of joining the Red Bull team, who had reportedly found sufficient South American sponsorship to buy him out of his $20m leaving clause with Williams.

Yuki Tsunoda’s drive for Red Bull next week may well afford him some hope the team is finally taking notice of his improved F1 performances, yet in reality this is another favour to Honda and not in fact an evaluation of whether he would be a better team mate for Max Verstappen.

Tsunoda struggled in his rookie season against Gasly, earning himself a reputation for being a hot head and crashing too much. His sophomore year saw much improvement and since then he has seen off Nyck de Vries and eight time Grand Prix winner Daniel Ricciardo.

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Horner implies no move for Yuki

Against both Ricciardo and now Lawson, Yuki’s qualifying record is impressive. In the races his has more often than not bested them both too but that gap is much closer which leads to the impression Yuki is more of a one lap specialist. Should Tsunoda fail to get the nod to join Max Verstappen his future is clear as Red Bull see out the final year of partnership with Honda in 2025.

Christian Horner was asked about Tsunoda’s potential alongside Verstappen next year, but there Red Bull boss gave little away, preferring to deflect the conversation away to Sergio Perez and his future.

“Speed-wise, we can see he’s [Yuki] fast. He’s experienced now, he’s making less mistakes. Everything is taken into account in any driver decision. We’ll weigh it all up after the season,” said Horner.

“The priority is to understand what the path is with Sergio. And of course, what you have to remember is the pressure of being Max’s team-mate is probably the hardest job in Formula 1,” Horner concluded.

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Tsunoda feedback weak

The Red Bull boss’ final comment reveals where the team are at in their thinking and clearly there are questions about how Tsunoda and his hot head temperament would fare where others have utterly failed. Too many mistakes under pressure, his loss of cool over team radio have all come to define Yuki’s career with the Red Bull sister team.

With Ricciardo joining the team, a number of issues quickly became clear. While the new RB leadership appreciated Ricciardo’s driver analysis and feedback, little was said on this matter regarding Tsunoda offering a similar contribution. The Aussie driver was credited with improving Yuki’s mental approach to racing as the red mist descended less frequently this year when times were tough.

It appears Yuki has become a permanent benchmark for the Red Bull team bosses and it is now Lawson who is being measured up. Unfortunately for Tsunoda, should Lawson with his vastly inferior experience tick the boxes Red Bull are looking for, it will be the ew Zealander who gets the nod to join Max for the 2025 campaign.

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Lawson to become Verstappen tea mate

For Yuki this will mean disappointment once more as he enters his final year with the Red Bull F1 organisation. Honda part ways with Red Bull in just over a year and will become the works supplier to the Aston Martin team. Of course Honda will seek to influence owner Lawrence Stroll to take their driver wit a variety of incentives including significant deals on power unit costs.

The imminent end of the Red Bull Honda partnership improbably another reason why Red Bull are reluctant to promote Tsunoda as Max Verstappen’s team mate. The world champion may often cuss and rage about on track situations developing during the race, yet all the time he channels this into fantastic performances, whilst Tsunoda just sounds desperate and not fully in control.

So while Tsunoda is finally getting a test in a Red Bull current car, behind the scenes there is practically no chance he is really in contention. This will see Liam Lawson the latest challenger to move up alongside Verstappen, and will he be the latest victim of the F1 career destroyer that is Max?

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Red Bull back out of Colapinto deal

Franco Colapinto took the world of Formula One by storm following the decision from Williams to release the hapless Logan Sargent and promote their Argentinian academy driver. He had hours to prepare for his first full Grand Prix weekend in Italy given the Floridian had piloted the FW46 the weekend before in Zandvoort.

If qualifying eighteenth was slightly disappointing for Franco in Monza, the race would more than make ups for his disappointment as he came home in a creditable P12. Next time out Colapinto was scoring points in Baku and a mature performance in the race saw him finish right behind team mate Alex Albon who was seventh… READ MORE