Yuki Tsunoda has reportedly been handed the role of Red Bull’s official reserve driver for the F1 2025 season, according to multiple reports.

Liam Lawson, who has stepped up to a Red Bull seat for this season, had been the team’s official reserve while on the sidelines at the beginning of last year, but multiple reports now state Tsunoda is set to be given the role for 2025.

Yuki Tsunoda set for Red Bull reserve role in F1 2025 season – reports

Tsunoda will continue with Red Bull’s sister team, now known as Racing Bulls, for a fifth season when the 2025 campaign gets underway, but with Lawson having stepped up to replace the outgoing Sergio Perez, multiple reports have said the Japanese driver will take on the role of Red Bull’s reserve driver.

While all drivers for Red Bull and Racing Bulls are part of the Red Bull pool, this would mean Tsunoda is effectively Red Bull’s first choice in reserve for Max Verstappen or Lawson should either of them be unavailable for a race weekend in 2025.

Tsunoda got a taste of Red Bull machinery at the end of 2024, driving the RB20 at Abu Dhabi in post-season testing.

More on the state of the Formula 1 driver market

👉 F1 driver contracts: What is the current contract status of every driver on the 2025 grid?

👉 F1 2026 driver line-up: Which drivers are already confirmed for 2026?

As for Racing Bulls, multiple reports have linked Red Bull junior Ayumu Iwasa as the official reserve for the junior team this season.

The 23-year-old finished fifth in the Super Formula standings last season, and is set to continue in the series after two seasons in Formula 2.

Iwasa already has Formula 1 experience himself, too, after taking in FP1 appearances for VCARB in Japan and Abu Dhabi last season, as well as post-season testing.

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