Yuki Tsunoda has now failed to score any points in five of his first eight Grands Prix as a Red Bull driver after he failed to finish in the top 10 in the Canadian GP last Sunday.
The 25-year-old could only seal a 12th-place finish at the Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve, while Max Verstappen took the other RB21 onto the podium in second. Tsunoda was also lapped in the Canadian GP, making it the second race he did not end on the lead lap after the Monaco GP.
Monaco and Canada even sandwich his run of three straight Grands Prix without a point for Red Bull, having sealed P17 in Monaco, P13 in Spain and P12 in Montreal. He is still to finish a Grand Prix higher than the P9 that Tsunoda took in Bahrain in his second race for Red Bull.
Scoring points was one of the reasons why Red Bull promoted Tsunoda from Racing Bulls to replace Liam Lawson. But he has only scored seven points since stepping up to the 119 that Verstappen has from the same run, leaving Red Bull fourth in the F1 constructors’ standings.
Red Bull ‘internally’ believe Yuki Tsunoda’s Canadian GP can be the start of his recovery
Yet despite Tsunoda failing to achieve Red Bull’s target of a point-scoring finish once again in the Canadian GP, his rise from P18 on the grid to P12 by the chequered flag was viewed as a positive ‘internally’ in the team. Red Bull believe his race can be a turning point for Tsunoda.
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| Position | Constructors’ Standings | Points |
| 1 |
McLaren Racing |
374 |
| 2 |
Mercedes-AMG Petronas |
199 |
| 3 |
Scuderia Ferrari |
183 |
| 4 |
Red Bull Racing |
162 |
That is according to Motorsport.com, which quotes Red Bull team principal Christian Horner noting that the Japanese ace may have taken points without Tsunoda’s 10-place grid penalty for the Canadian GP. He was penalised after overtaking Oscar Piastri under a red flag in FP3.
Horner said about Tsunoda’s Canadian GP: “I think he did a decent job. We saw how difficult it was to overtake. I think Yuki needs to start with more confidence. If he had started from his normal grid position, where he qualified [in P11], he would have scored points.”
Yuki Tsunoda must now justify Red Bull’s new belief with points in the Austrian Grand Prix
Tsunoda is fighting for a future with Red Bull, but did himself no favours at the Canadian GP by overtaking McLaren rival Piastri under a red flag during FP3. It meant he would not start from P11, after missing out on a Q3 place by 0.099s, and his race was hugely compromised.
Red Bull are expected to release Tsunoda after the 2025 F1 season, as his form since taking Lawson’s seat has not been enough to earn a new contract with his deal expiring. It is even possible that Red Bull could drop Tsunoda in the 2025 summer break if his plight continues.
Improving from P18 on the Canadian GP grid to P12 may only have bought him more time, then, with Red Bull hoping it can act as the start of his recovery. What Tsunoda now has to do is back it up at the Austrian Grand Prix with Red Bull’s home event next on the calendar.
Tsunoda will only be pushing himself closer towards Red Bull’s exit door if he fails to at the absolute minimum score points in the Austrian GP on June 29. The Kanagawa native would be signing his own release permit by going a fourth Grand Prix without a point in Spielberg.
