Yuki Tsunoda admits he still needs to ‘improve’ in one area Red Bull had concerns about

Yuki Tsunoda may find it difficult to summon motivation when the 2025 Formula 1 season begins at the Australian Grand Prix. This will be his fifth straight campaign with the Racing Bulls team.

Custom dictates that a Red Bull junior driver learns their fate long before that point. They’re either promoted to Christian Horner’s squad, or dumped altogether.

But Tsunoda has found himself in F1 purgatory – too good to be dropped, not good enough (in Red Bull’s eyes at least) to partner Max Verstappen. Damningly, teammate Liam Lawson won the battle to replace Sergio Perez with just 11 races of experience.

Thus Tsunoda will continue to scrap in the midfield, while watching Lawson potentially score podiums and a race win or two. He’ll wonder at this point whether there’s any prospect of a Red Bull drive.

Indeed, Tsunoda could be a big player in the 2026 driver market as he approaches the end of his contract. His principal backers Honda are splitting with Red Bull to supply Aston Martin, adding to the theory that this is a natural break point.

Tsunoda is one of the most outspoken drivers on the F1 grid in interviews. His media sessions next month should be particularly busy.

Yuki Tsunoda accepts he still too gets to ‘frustrated’ at Racing Bulls

Speaking to Motorsport Week, Tsunoda reflected on his 2024 season with Racing Bulls. It was very much year of purple patches and troughs.

For instance, the Japanese driver registered five points finishes in six races between the Australian and Monaco Grands Prix, but then had a three-race run of 14th, 19th and 14th in Canada, Spain and Austria. He also went seven Sundays without points either side of the summer break.

This partly reflects the team’s mixed track record when it comes to upgrading their car. Tsunoda admits he gets ‘really frustrated’ when they don’t see the anticipated performance gains.

And this is an area he wants to address heading into 2025. For perhaps the first time, he’ll be the clear team leader at Faenza alongside rookie Isack Hadjar.

“Sometimes it gets also still pi**y, and I get really frustrated, which I want to improve still,” he said. “But yeah, I mean, still motivated, you know?

“At the same time, [every] upgrade is not having a step as we want, but still we see a lot of steps in each upgrade. So every time we’re able to fight closely to P10 anyway, that gives motivation and kind of resets every Grand Prix to always score points.”

David Coulthard shares the question Red Bull asked about Yuki Tsunoda before Liam Lawson move

Red Bull have had concerns about Tsunoda’s temperament, which hurt his chances of replacing Perez. One journalist says they told him to ‘lower the decibels’ on the team radio after he developed a reputation for furious outbursts.

Horner says Lawson has the right mindset to ‘cope’ with the pressure next year. This implicitly points to the key doubts around Tsunoda.

Red Bull are worried that he’ll be ruled by his emotions if, like the three drivers that have come before, he’s comprehensively beaten by Verstappen. If they were judging it on performance alone – Tsunoda beat Lawson in every Saturday qualifying session – then perhaps he’d get the seat.

According to David Coulthard, Red Bull have asked themselves whether Tsunoda is a future world champion. Clearly, they’ve come to the conclusion that he isn’t, and Coulthard feels it’s telling that no other team has decisively swooped.