RB driver Yuki Tsunoda is one of several drivers entering the Formula 1 winter break in limbo.
Tsunoda will be glad that his immediate F1 future isn’t under threat, but it’s still not clear which team he’ll be driving for in 2025.
The Japanese driver has a one-year contract with RB for next season, but there may be an opportunity to race for Red Bull.
Sergio Perez’s Red Bull future is under serious threat, but nothing has been confirmed as to who will step into the Mexican’s seat if he’s let go.
Tsunoda is a candidate to replace Perez and was handed his first opportunity to drive for Red Bull during the most recent post-season test.
Red Bull have always been reticent to hand the 24-year-old that opportunity, and while Tsunoda’s testing times don’t compare to Perez’s qualifying laps, the team would have reached their won conclusions after 127 laps of the Yas Marina Circuit on Tuesday.
Unfortunately, Liam Lawson looks like the favourite to replace Perez if he’s let go, leaving Tsunoda in limbo once again.
Journalist Ben Anderson has shared on The Race’s YouTube channel the predicament Tsunoda finds himself in and why it’s reminiscent of Carlos Sainz’s time within the Red Bull organisation.
Yuki Tsunoda has reached the same ceiling as Carlos Sainz in the Red Bull set up
Talking about Tsunoda’s situation, Anderson said: “The team points to Tsunoda’s impressive performances in Brazil where he qualified third and Las Vegas where he qualified seventh as evidence Tsunoda is nudging up against the upper limit of what RB is capable of.
“In a similar way to Carlos Sainz before he left Toro Rosso for Renault in 2017.
“They also think Tsunoda has made strides in terms of his technical feedback and his emotional control inside the car which seems to be the main reservation Red Bull still has.
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“Ultimately, RB thinks Tsunoda and Lawson are evenly matched and ready to go to the next steps as Mekies puts it, with [Alan] Permane even calling Lawson the real deal.
“Presumably because the performance deficit to Tsunoda – a driver Permane rates as super quick – is impressively small for someone who has only started 11 Grand Prix.”
RB back Yuki Tsunoda but he might end up in same position as Carlos Sainz
RB team principal Laurent Mekies spoke about Tsunoda in Abu Dhabi, via The Race, and when asked about whether Tsunoda and Lawson are ready for a promotion, he said: “Every team situation is different, but I think to tell you, ‘no, no, I don’t think he’s ready’ for an environment or another, I will not be able to tell you that.
“You could say that another [driver] has another set of skills that is as ready or as good for that environment.
“But for sure, both drivers today are ready to go to the next steps.”
Tsunoda’s dream move is to race for Red Bull, and it’s yet to be seen whether he’ll ever achieve that.
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Sainz spent four seasons at Ferrari and was visibly upset after the race knowing he would have to leave.
While he’s found a new home at Williams, it’s very unlikely he’ll be challenging for pole postions and race wins any time soon like he was with the Scuderia.
Tsunoda could leave RB at the end of 2025 and at the moment, there’s no logical landing spot for him elsewhere on the grid unless Honda can convince Aston Martin to drop one of their current drivers.
It looks like a case of now or never for Tsunoda to finally make the step up into the senior Red Bull team.
