Three races into his Red Bull, Yuki Tsunoda has been warned that he needs to “wake up” or he risks being the next out of the Red Bull door.

Having missed out on the Red Bull seat last year, passed over for Liam Lawson, Tsunoda was handed his dream promotion this year after race two, the Chinese Grand Prix, as he swapped places with the New Zealand driver.

Does Yuki Tsunoda need a ‘wake up’ call?

Having watched Lawson falter in his two races with Red Bull, his head dropping, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner announced the team had a “duty of care to protect and develop Liam” in his fledgling career and had therefore decided to send him back to VCARB and promote Tsunoda in his stead.

“We acknowledge there is a lot of work to be done with the RB21,” Horner added, “and Yuki’s experience will prove highly beneficial in helping to develop the current car. We welcome him to the team and are looking forward to seeing him behind the wheel of the RB21.”

Tsunoda achieved several firsts for the second RB21 in his first two races with Red Bull, first Q2 appearance in Japan, first Q3 appearance in Bahrain and also first points as he brought the car home in ninth place at the Bahrain International Circuit.

Damned by faint praise after his first Grand Prix when Red Bull motorsport advisor Helmut Marko declared that Tsunoda drove a “solid race”, that was elevated to “very solid” by Horner when he scored two points in Bahrain.

F1 2025 head-to-head stats

👉 F1 2025: Head-to-head qualifying statistics between team-mates

👉 F1 2025: Head-to-head race statistics between team-mates

But a week later, the third of the season’s opening triple-header and Tsunoda’s third race as a Red Bull driver, he was well off the pace set by Max Verstappen.

While the Dutchman claimed pole position with a 1:27.294, Tsunoda’s best in Q3 was a 1:28.204.

That was even slower than Lawson’s final qualifying in the RB21 when his 1:32.174 was seven-tenths down on Verstappen’s time in Q1 in China.

It has Alguersuari, a former Red Bull junior, declaring Tsunoda needs a “wake up” if he wants to stay in the Red Bull long-term.

“He was way behind. Let’s see if we think it’s okay that a teammate finishes nine tenths behind another,” he said.

“And I don’t care if his name is Max Verstappen or Fernando Alonso, or if it just can’t happen, it is unacceptable that if we accept that.

“Oh well, he made Q3’, but you finished nine tenths off, man, no. That is, your teammate has taken pole position and you are nine tenths behind.

“In Q1 everything was close, but in Q3 the track evolution is big. Everyone has put on new tyres and you have to make the difference. Man, you have the World Champion car and your teammate is either winning races or being on the podium, I mean wake up.”

Marko, though, has stated that despite results, Tsunoda will remain with Red Bull for the rest of the campaign.

He told Formel1.de: “Yuki Tsunoda will finish the season.

“Yuki Tsunoda is a fast driver, we know that, but he’s had his ups and downs.

“That’s why we thought Lawson was the better and stronger candidate. But Yuki has undergone a transformation. He changed his management, and in this situation, this was simply the best option.”

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