Red Bull boss makes honest admission about Yuki Tsunoda's future with the Austrian brand
Red Bull boss Christian Horner has made an honest admission about Yuki Tsunoda's future and claimed that it won't come as a surprise if the partnership breaks up in the future. After Gasly left for Alpine, Yuki Tsunoda slowly took over the lead role at the sister Red Bull team.
In the last two seasons, Tsunoda has been teamed with multiple drivers, starting with Nyck de Vries, who was picked up by Helmut Marko after a strong debut with Williams.
After the Dutch failed to live up to the expectations at Red Bull, he was dropped and Daniel Ricciardo was brought in with the team eyeing a potential replacement for Sergio Perez. When the Ricciardo experiment failed, Liam Lawson was prompted and assessed alongside the Japanese driver.
The battle to be Sergio Perez's replacement was between Liam Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda and Red Bull went with the Kiwi. This means that Tsunoda is going to be a part of the Faenza-based squad for a 5th season.
Speaking via The Race, Christian Horner admitted that such a long stint on the junior team was an indication of something different in store for both parties and didn't rule out a separation in the future.
"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]? 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.”
Yuki Tsunoda first stepped into F1 in 2021 when he was teamed up alongside Pierre Gasly. The Japanese driver showed impressive improvement over the years after an early stutter, where he admitted at the end of 2021 that even he was surprised at the team keeping him for another year.
Red Bull reveals having a chat with Yuki Tsunoda
Red Bull boss Christian Horner also opened up about having a chat with Yuki Tsunoda when the driver was in Japan enjoying his off-time. Sharing a few words of encouragement, Horner admitted that one never knows what happens in the future and things change quicker in F1, hence that could happen to Tsunoda as well. He said,
“I spoke with Yuki. 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."
Talking about the 24-year-old's determination, Horner suggested that Tsunoda still had the chance to prove his mettle.
“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.”
It does appear that Yuki Tsunoda has been a part of the Red Bull umbrella mostly because of his association with Honda. If that was not the case, we might not be looking at the driver getting what would be a five-year stint in the sister team V-Ca-RB.