How Red Bull feel about Yuki Tsunoda’s F1 future after another pointless finish at the Canadian Grand Prix

Yuki Tsunoda is now averaging less than a point per race since his promotion to Red Bull Racing this season.

After eight race weekends as a Red Bull driver, Yuki Tsunoda has scored seven points for Christian Horner’s outfit.

Tsunoda looked set to be one of the stars of the season after the first two races of the year, qualifying fifth for Racing Bulls in Australia and finishing ahead of Lando Norris in the Sprint Race in Shanghai.

However, after Red Bull dropped Liam Lawson following the Chinese Grand Prix, Tsunoda was given minimal time to prepare for the role that he’d dreamt of ever since making his Formula 1 debut.

The 25-year-old has been playing catch-up ever since, and has failed to score a point since squeezing into the top 10 at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.

His race weekends have been littered with small errors and issues, and at the Canadian Grand Prix, Tsunoda’s decision to overtake Oscar Piastri under red flags earned him a 10-place grid penalty and ruined his chances of a much-needed points haul.

Nico Rosberg was saddened by Tsunoda’s recent performances, and he’ll be well aware of the predicament he now finds himself in going forward.

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Red Bull retain faith in Yuki Tsunoda despite current F1 pointless streak

Only three drivers on the grid are on a longer streak without scoring a point than Tsunoda.

Franco Colapinto and Gabriel Bortoleto have yet to get off the mark in 2025, while Oliver Bearman’s last point came in Bahrain, and Lance Stroll last finished in the points during the Sprint Race in Miami.

Journalist Mark Majendie is spending this season working within Red Bull and was talking on The Inside Track Podcast about Tsunoda’s latest performance.

He explained: “Well, the qualifying was disappointing. So where he ended up being…

“He needs to get his Saturday right and qualifying, and once that’s done, he gets into Q3, a good qualifying position to then see what’s possible.

“Because I’m talking positively about what he does from way back to climb up the order, and that’s impressive.

“You want to see if he can do that in the mix? I think he can.

“There is belief within the team in him and support for him. I don’t think we’re going to get another Liam Lawson situation.”

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Yuki Tsunoda’s future under threat with Red Bull with his Formula 1 contract set to expire

Tsunoda has found himself out of sync with many of the other drivers on the F1 grid.

Last season’s driver market was chaotic, and while Tsunoda earned a new deal for 2025 early in the season at last year’s Canadian Grand Prix, it was only Red Bull’s traditional one-year extension.

It means that the majority of the seats on next year’s grid are already occupied, and while Red Bull have ‘belief’ in Tsunoda for now, that won’t continue into 2026 at the current rate.

Isack Hadjar is Red Bull’s favoured candidate to partner Max Verstappen next season, although there is plenty of time this year for that stance to change.

The young Frenchman may not even want to be promoted, given how the last five drivers have fared alongside the four-time world champion.

If Red Bull drop the Japanese driver, Cadillac could be interested in Tsunoda’s services.

A move to Aston Martin would also make sense given his Honda connections, but it’s hard to see Lawrence Stroll dropping his son, Lance or Fernando Alonso for a driver who is yet to finish on the podium.