Yuki Tsunoda has officially lost out in the battle to replace Sergio Perez at Red Bull. RB teammate Liam Lawson was confirmed as the team’s newest signing on Thursday morning.
It’s a brutal blow for Tsunoda, even if it was widely expected. It once again confirms that the Red Bull hierarchy have little faith in him.
The Japanese driver has enjoyed his best season yet. He finished a career-high 12th in the championship with 30 points, while his two teammates (first Daniel Ricciardo and then Lawson) only managed 16 between them.
Tsunoda was especially impressive in qualifying, thrashing Lawson 5-0 (excluding Sprints) and beating Ricciardo 12-6. He would justifiably say he’s the team’s outstanding junior driver right now.
Instead, they’ve favoured Lawson, who has only competed in 11 Grand Prix weekends to Tsunoda’s 87. If the New Zealander struggles, he may finally get a chance, but this looked like his best opportunity.
As planned from June, Tsunoda will remain at RB for 2025. He’s likely to be partnered by Isack Hadjar, who finished runner-up in the F2 championship.
Red Bull selected Liam Lawson before Yuki Tsunoda’s first test at Abu Dhabi
Tsunoda thought he had one final chance to impress Red Bull when they handed him a test outing in Abu Dhabi earlier this month. Remarkably, given his long-term involvement in the programme, it was his first-ever test in their machinery.
It appeared to be a successful day. Red Bull tried to keep Tsunoda’s fans calm by denying him a low-fuel, flat-out run, but he logged a mammoth 127 laps.
What’s more, Tsunoda impressed engineers with ‘excellent’ feedback on the car’s handling. But, according to F1TV’s Lawrence Barretto, none of this mattered.
Speaking on a live stream on the sport’s official channel, Barretto revealed that Red Bull had opted for Lawson even before Tsunoda had turned a wheel. Christian Horner, Helmut Marko and the team’s shareholders held a summit the day after the final race at Yas Marina.
“From what I understand, they decided the day after Abu Dhabi – so before Yuki had even done the test on the Tuesday – they had decided that he was the one,” Barretto said of Lawson. “Once they’d done that, there was no going back.
“They believed that Liam was the one to deal with the pressure cooker of A) being in the Red Bull family, and B) going up against the best driver of this generation in Max Verstappen.”
Yuki Tsunoda is likely to leave RB for 2026 – who will replace him?
Tsunoda will surely be furious when he discovers the timing of the decision, if he doesn’t know already. It makes his test outing seem like little more than a token gesture.
Based on Barretto’s information, there was nothing the 24-year-old could have done on that day to convince Red Bull. While they can speak to staff at RB and pore over his data, Tsunoda will feel Lawson had an unfair advantage given his previous outings for the team.
It now seems almost certain that he’ll leave next December on the culmination of his contract. He’s clearly hit a low ceiling, and his backers Honda are splitting with Red Bull.
That’s why Tsunoda is expected to join Aston Martin, who will effectively become a Honda works team. Franco Colapinto could join RB in 2026, perhaps alongside Hadjar, after initial links this year.
