Racing Bulls (RB) driver Yuki Tsunoda has been all over the news in the past few days after Red Bull snubbed him once again by offering Liam Lawson a seat on the main team instead. After deciding to not promote Tsunoda, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has passed various statements that have caused a lot of uproar.
One such statement by Horner was that Red Bull cannot keep Tsunoda on the junior team for more than five seasons and that if they fail to help him land a seat at Milton Keynes this year itself, the Japanese driver may need to leave the side.
At a time when the 51-year-old has passed such statements to the media, a Japanese report claims that Red Bull have refused offers for Tsunoda from more than three teams — Alpine, Audi/Sauber, and Haas — with all three offering long-term contracts to him. And it is not just the Auto Sport Web Japan report that has made such claims.
Auto Sport Web Japan: “Alpine, Sauber/Audi and Haas are said to have spoken to Tsunoda’s management at the beginning of the 2024 season and offered him long-term contracts. However, Red Bull, which owns Tsunoda’s contract, refused to let him go.”
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Scott Mitchell-Malm of The Race also claimed that Red Bull did not allow Tsunoda to leave when Haas showed interest in signing him earlier this year. Such reports, if true, make one wonder why did Red Bull not allow the 24-year-old driver to leave when an offer came for him, especially if he was not in their long-term plans.
Will Tsunoda still be a Red Bull driver after 2025?
With Tsunoda now only having a contract with RB until the end of the 2025 season, his future with Red Bull hinges on two things. First, he needs to perform at the highest level himself.
Secondly, he needs Lawson to underperform at Red Bull, which may result in the Austrian outfit switching their two drivers. However, considering that Red Bull have decided against promoting Tsunoda despite him being a part of the junior team for four seasons, it seems unlikely that he will remain with the Red Bull stable after 2025.
This means that over the course of the 2025 season, the #22 driver will have to be in touch with other teams to try and secure his future elsewhere. If none of the current teams are keen on signing him, Tsunoda’s final opportunity to stay in F1 may be with Cadillac Racing, who will join the grid as the eleventh side in 2026.
