Now that Red Bull has confirmed its lineup for the 2025 season, Yuki Tsunoda has been overlooked in favour of Liam Lawson.
The Japanese driver is arguably the most experienced out of the pair with an extra 70 race starts compared to Lawson, however, Red Bull has sided with the 22-year-old to replace Sergio Perez.
Perez was on borrowed time at Red Bull after a series of bad races in 2024, resulting in Red Bull deciding to drop him despite signing a contract extension in June.
Lawson was seen as a potential successor, given that Christian Horner and Helmut Marko both disagreed on Tsunoda and whether he was right for a promotion. Tiff Needell thinks Red Bull should have promoted Tsunoda, instead of retaining Perez for 2024.
Discussing why Tsunoda was overlooked on the Autosport podcast, journalist Alex Kalinaukas explained why the Japanese driver is still in the frame at Visa CashApp RB.
Yuki Tsunoda in RB because of Honda partnership
Since the 2022 season, Red Bull has been running rebadged Honda power units in both their teams ahead of their switch to being an engine-maker in 2026 with Ford.
Tsunoda was originally brought through the Honda Junior programme and still has ties to the manufacturer, which is why he currently has a seat with the Red Bull sister team today.
“It all comes back to the fact that the top management at Red Bull don’t believe he can handle being Max Verstappen’s teammate,” said Kalinaukas.
“I don’t think Lawson can handle that either, but there is enough short time in F1, the fact that he’s willing to have a fight with Fernando Alonso or give the finger to Perez in Mexico he’s got something about him. The suggestion is that Tsunoda’s confidence is too fragile and they don’t dare put him in.
“The thing that everyone overlooks in this is Honda, and to my understanding, there are significant financial reasons why Tsunoda is still part of that programme with Red Bull rebadging their engines.”
Where can Yuki Tsunoda go next?
Tsunoda’s current deal with RB is only through the 2025 season, which means he will be a free agent at the end of next season.
He will likely be looking at options outside of Red Bull now that they have banked on Lawson for the future, one of which could be Aston Martin.
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Tsunoda has made no secret about wanting to race for Aston Martin in the past, and given the Honda links it might be the best option.
Lance Stroll has been underperforming in the last two seasons and while he is reliant on the ownership of that team to keep his seat, Aston Martin does have other projects such as the WEC team to move him on to if they feel he is not meeting performance requirements.
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