Honda president Koji Watanabe spoke with Red Bull team boss Christian Horner as recently as Saturday as he continued his push to ensure Yuki Tsunoda at least has a shot at the Red Bull race seat.

Red Bull have yet to reveal their full line-up for both Red Bull Racing and Racing Bulls for the 2025 championship with a decision expected sometime this week.

Honda held talks with Red Bull in Abu Dhabi

The teams’ higher-ups met on Monday after the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix to discuss the driver situation amidst rumours Sergio Perez could be replaced after the Mexican driver’s struggles cost the team in the Constructors’ Championship.

Red Bull finished in third place, losing almost $20 million, as Perez bagged only 152 points to sit eighth in the standings whereas his team-mate Max Verstappen won the title with 437 points.

Although Liam Lawson is reportedly the favourite to replace Perez should Red Bull swing the axe, Honda are still hoping their man, Yuki Tsunoda, secures the promotion.

As such Honda, Red Bull’s engine partner, organised with the Formula 1 team for Tsunoda to drive the RB20 in the post-season Abu Dhabi test where he covered 127 laps and finished P17, 1.1s down on Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.

Watanabe revealed he also spoke with Horner about Red Bull’s driver situation on the Saturday of the Abu Dhabi weekend, but conceded the final decision if of course Red Bull’s.

“On Saturday I had various discussions with Christian Horner about the drivers for next season and beyond,” he revealed to as-web.

“As I always say, the team has the right to decide on the driver, so our opinion is merely for reference, but from the HRC side, we believe that Tsunoda has the ability to be promoted to Red Bull and should be one of the candidates.

“I think that what we can do is to provide an opportunity for him to show his abilities to the world, so I asked him to participate in this test, and we were able to make it happen.”

He added: “All I have is the report from the site by HRC, but he [Tsunoda] has very clearly analysed the differences between the RB car and the Red Bull car, and has given the team very useful advice and comments on that basis. I have confirmed from the report that Tsunoda himself is very satisfied.

“After that, I don’t know what will happen, so we’ll have to wait and see the results, but if it goes well, that’ll be great.

“In any case, (even if he can’t drive for Red Bull), he’s already been booked to drive for RB next season, so I expect him to perform well next season no matter which team he drives for.”

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The test though, took place a day after Red Bull’s big meeting, Helmut Marko having revealed on the Sunday in Abu Dhabi that a decision “will be made” on the Monday but will only be announced after Tsunoda’s outing.

However, Takuma Sato, former F1 driver and HRC Executive Advisor, is still praying Tsunoda gets the nod ahead of Lawson.

“From what I’ve seen, of course, with regards to Yuki, he showed amazing speed from Q1 (second place) at the Bahrain GP (2021) when he made his F1 debut, and I think his growth as a driver has been steadily increasing over the past four years,” he said.

“I met him at Imola (test held in August) for the first time in a while, and he seemed very relaxed, so I thought he’s become a really good driver.

“Including race management and race craft, Yuki now has speed, and I think he has grown a lot with age and experience, including his own self-control to manage well.

“So, as I just said, we are hoping that he will drive for Red Bull, but I think it’s up to the team. Yuki spoke to the media, saying that his driving style and the Red Bull car, with its sharp front end, suit him well, so I think he must have had a very good test.

“Now, all we can do is pray.”

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