Marko issues latest Tsunoda future update after major Red Bull breakthrough

Outqualifying Max Verstappen for the first time as teammates, Helmut Marko noted Yuki Tsunoda is “improving his performance”, and it couldn’t have come at a better time.

Red Bull will decide after this weekend’s Qatar Grand Prix its line-up for its two Formula 1 teams; Red Bull Racing and Racing Bulls.

Could Yuki Tsunoda yet save his Red Bull seat?

21 race weekends, and 26 qualifying sessions, into his Red Bull career, Tsunoda claimed a Red Bull first at the Lusail International Circuit on Friday night when he outqualified Verstappen in the Sprint quali.

The Japanese driver crossed the line in 1:20.519 in SQ3, beating Verstappen to fifth place by 0.009s.

Nearing the end of a season in which Tsunoda has struggled to match his World Championship-winning teammate, scoring 28 points to the Dutchman’s 366, his qualifying win could not have come at a better time.

Marko, though, says it’s not the first sign of improvement from the 25-year-old, who has scored the bulk of his Red Bull points in the races since the summer break. That coincides with Red Bull’s overall gains with Verstappen stringing together a run of eight races on the podium.

“If you look back to Las Vegas,” Marko told media, including PlanetF1.com, after SQ3, “Yuki was already very close to Max, and just when we put the wrong tyre pressure, that put him out in Q1 and ruined his race weekend, but his speed was consistently improving.

“He’s improving his performance, and he’s more involved, more interested in the technical side.”

Asked if it could yet play a part in Red Bull’s F1 2026 decision, Marko replied: “How often we said we will decide after this weekend, so next week we know.”

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‘Clean’ and ‘confident’, the secret to Tsunoda’s SQ win

As for Tsunoda, he put his P5 in Sprint quali down to a clean weekend with the driver feeling confident in his RB21.

“So far, it has been a clean race weekend, pretty smooth, and no issues happened in practice or qualifying,” he said.

“It is good that I felt more confident in qualifying, and that we’ve had a clean race weekend so far.

“You just have to put it all together. There are three more sessions to go, and now it is especially important for the team and especially for Max.

“It is good that both sides of the garage are focused, and we try to give ourselves the maximum.

“I am happy with the car and my confidence, and obviously there is a bit to go [in the Sprint], to find the extra tenths, but I am excited.”

It, however, may be a case of too little too late for Tsunoda.

With three open seats and four candidates, it’s understood Red Bull will promote Isack Hadjar to the senior team for the next season with Tsunoda and Liam Lawson fighting for a Racing Bulls drive alongside Formula 2 driver Arvid Lindblad.

Additional reporting by Thomas Maher

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