Yuki Tsunoda backed for F1 return as Red Bull chance fades

Yuki Tsunoda may deserve another shot in Formula 1, but a return to Red Bull looks firmly off the table.

After four seasons with Red Bull’s sister team, Tsunoda was given his long-awaited Red Bull promotion at round three of the F1 2025 season. However, he wasn’t able to bring in the results that the team required.

Yuki Tsunoda backed for another Formula 1 opportunity

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Tsunoda scored just 30 points in 22 grand prix weekends, and while he felt he had done enough in a difficult RB21 to retain the seat, Red Bull demoted him to a reserve driver role with Hadjar promoted in his stead.

Tsunoda has instead been working behind the scenes on Red Bull’s all-new RB22, using his previous knowledge of both the Red Bull and Racing Bulls F1 cars to help the teams develop.

The role of reserve driver, though, is never the highlight for a racing driver as team principal Mekies acknowledges.

He believes the Japanese driver has shown enough to earn himself a racing seat, but with “another opportunity”.

“Yuki is doing a great job with us, not only as a reserve driver, but also as a simulator driver,” Mekies told the Beyond the Grid podcast.

“It’s great to have somebody that has such deep, recent experience of the car that can help us behind the scenes.

“Of course, we wish for him that there is an opportunity that comes soon because racing drivers are meant to race. And that’s what we wish for Yuki.

“We are conscious that we haven’t been as strong as we would have liked in the past in terms of the second-car performance at Red Bull Racing and it’s something we are taking the learnings, we are trying to improve day after day.

“It’s fair to say that Yuki has shown significant speed in the past and we wish for him that another opportunity comes along the way.”

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As for Hadjar, the Frenchman has been impressed with the new Red Bull signing.

Stepping up after just a season with Racing Bulls, Hadjar was fighting for a potential podium finish at the Australian Grand Prix when his RB22 suffered an engine issue. He scored his first points in Red Bull colours in China, before finishing P12 in Japan.

He has also been inside the top ten in all three grand prix qualifying sessions.

“Isack is in a great place right now,” said Mekies. “He has done, I think, everything he could have done to maximise his integration with the team.

“He moved to London in the early days of January. He’s at the factory every other day. He spends as much time as he can in the simulator, trying to understand all the engineering parts around the car. He has been as keen as you can be.

“I think he even flew back between the two Bahrain tests just to try more stuff on the simulators and flew back to Bahrain. So, credit to him for the level of commitment.

“But the truth is, he’s not making an effort, that’s what he loves to do. He has been living, dreaming about that moment for a long time, and for him, it’s his dream.

“It’s our dream to be able to spend time and energy in the simulator or with the engineer. So he has been doing that very intensely. I think the first two races show that it’s already showing the right results.

“He has been able to show the right speed straight away. I’m sure he will remember his first qualifying with us with a P3 in Melbourne, and it’s a long season that will be up and down.

“We believe drivers make steps and we expect steps from Isack this year and we think he has all the right talents and all the right approach to be able to make these steps.”

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