Racing Bulls CEO hopes Red Bull ‘don’t’ do one thing as first-choice Yuki Tsunoda replacement identified

Yuki Tsunoda is now fighting for his future at Red Bull after a disappointing start to his time in their main team, with just seven points scored since moving from Racing Bulls.

The 25-year-old finally earned the move he coveted this March after Red Bull admitted their mistake to promote Liam Lawson instead of Tsunoda back in December. But despite a rather promising start, the Japanese racer is costing Red Bull just like Sergio Perez and Lawson did.

Red Bull initially favoured promoting Lawson when they decided to release Perez as Helmut Marko questioned Tsunoda’s mentality to be Max Verstappen’s teammate. Yet the 23-year-old forced Red Bull to make a change after only the first two rounds of the 2025 F1 season.

Now, it is Tsunoda who is forcing Red Bull to consider a change, having only secured top-10 Grand Prix results with P9 in Bahrain plus P10 in Miami and Imola. Three of his mere seven points in seven rounds for Red Bull also came with P6 in the Sprint at the Miami Grand Prix.

Peter Bayer urges Red Bull to leave Isack Hadjar at Racing Bulls in the 2026 F1 season

So, Red Bull are expected to release Tsunoda after the 2025 F1 season, and are even likely to promote another of their academy graduates from Racing Bulls with rookie Isack Hadjar. The 20-year-old has excelled since his promotion, almost by default, from Formula 2 this season.

READ MORE: Who is Racing Bulls 2025 F1 driver Isack Hadjar? Everything you need to know

Hadjar is Red Bull’s first-choice target to replace Tsunoda having scored 21 points so far this year, which is 11 more than the Japanese racer and 17 more than Lawson have scored so far. But Racing Bulls CEO Peter Bayer urges Red Bull not to promote Hadjar until, at least, 2027.

Bayer told Blick: “For heaven’s sake, don’t take this talent away from us too soon. He should learn the ropes until the end of 2026. Until then, we’ll just have to keep him in handcuffs!”

Isack Hadjar has outscored Yuki Tsunoda and Liam Lawson combined in his rookie season

Hadjar scored his first points as an F1 driver in Japan as the Racing Bulls rookie earned P8 at Suzuka, while Tsunoda made his debut with Red Bull and Lawson returned to the junior crew. Lawson did not get the Kiwi’s first points of the 2025 season until his P8 in the Monaco GP.

Racing Bulls also saw Hadjar score his best rookie result so far with P6 in Monaco, adding to the Parisian’s points from top-10 Grand Prix results with his P10 in Saudi Arabia, P9 at Imola and P7 in Spain. He has two more top-10 Grand Prix results in 2025 than Tsunoda has taken.

READ MORE: Red Bull driver Yuki Tsunoda’s life outside F1 from height to parents

Yet Hadjar sealed his graduation to F1 after finishing second to Sauber star Gabriel Bortoleto for the 2024 Formula 2 title almost by default. Red Bull only placed the French-Algerian gem in the Racing Bulls line-up for the 2025 season after they selected Lawson to replace Perez.

Now, his results might lead to a move to Milton Keynes against Bayer’s desires, as Hadjar has exceeded Red Bull team principal Christian Horner’s expectations. His promotion could even come amid his rookie term, as Red Bull could release Tsunoda after the 2025 summer break.