Yuki Tsunoda’s Loyalty Tested Amid Driver Market Rumors Despite Strong Season

Yuki Tsunoda has been rapid for VCARB in 2024 and has showcased how he’s matured as a driver. Despite that, every time the conversation of a Red Bull promotion comes up, he seems to be sidelined due to various undisclosed reasons. Regardless, he is staying loyal to the Red Bull family and his recent admission about interest from other teams teams proves that.

The chances of Daniel Ricciardo going to Red Bull have always been stronger even though both VCARB men were given the illusion of a fair chance. At first, the narrative surrounding the promotion was performance-based.

However, Tsunoda convincingly outperformed his more experienced teammate. With no promotion in sight, the Japanese driver’s output made him an attractive option for other teams. Despite these offers, Tsunoda revealed on F1’s Beyond the Grid podcast that he decided to extend his contract at the Faenza-based outfit.

He said, “I started to probably show my value this year, from the beginning of the season. Before I signed my contract with VCARB, fortunately, a couple of teams reached [out] to me. I never had that in the last two years, especially the first two years. So you just need to consistently keep delivering the results.”

With a volatile driver market this year, Tsunoda could’ve easily got a seat elsewhere. However, the 24-year-old is staying put with Red Bull’s junior team for at least one more year.

It might become impossible for the Austrian stable to hold him down beyond 2025 without a promotion. Moreover, he openly confessed his confusion with the rumors of Liam Lawson being linked to the coveted seat at Milton Keynes.

Tsunoda’s confusion regarding the rumors surrounding the Red Bull seat

It was clear Ricciardo was being vetted for the Red Bull seat when he got the mid-season call-up in 2023. Regardless, Tsunoda kept his head down and kept delivering good performances. However, the Japanese driver could not make sense of things when Ricciardo’s five-race replacement, Lawson was being considered for the seat before him.

The Express quoted him as saying said, “If they choose Liam, that would be weird. I mean, for sure, Liam did a really good job when he drove in the team, but I think I did more than that. And we’ll see how it goes”. His statement was met with some backlash from the team’s advisor Helmut Marko. The Austrian urged him to “wait” to see the team’s other decisions.

Currently, that’s all the Japanese driver can do as he’s tied down to his VCARB seat till the end of the 2025 season. According to rumors, he’ll likely be driving alongside Lawson next year with Ricciardo losing his drive or being promoted to Red Bull. Regardless, Tsunoda will have to take a hard look at his F1 future beyond his current contract.