F1 | Tsunoda stirs up the paddock: three teams evaluate the Japanese

Yuki Tsunoda put hay on the farm. The excellent first part of the 2024 season (his fourth in F.1) has put him in a solid position within the drivers’ market. Racing Bull and Helmut Marko are happy to confirm him in the Faenza team also in 2025, but today for Tsunoda it is also legitimate to think about something more. “Obviously the dream of all the drivers who have raced and race for Racing Bull is Red Bull,” admitted Yuki, but at the moment there don’t seem to be any signs in this direction. Sergio Perez hopes for a renewal for 2025, and everything suggests that he is the candidate to partner Max Verstappen next year.

Tsunoda said he was very happy with the progress shown by Racing Bull in this first part of the season. “We are the first… of the others,” he confirmed, underlining how the team is leading the second half of the grid, a position that has allowed Yuki to reach the points four times in the first seven races. Undoubtedly the growth of Racing Bull has allowed Tsunoda to look to the future with greater serenity, today he can afford exploits and is already only two points away from the points haul he achieved in the entire 2023 season. But the twenty-four year old Japanese is also looking beyond.

Tsunoda’s growth was not lost on the rest of the paddock. It is rumored that three teams (Haas, Audi and Alpine) have inquired about Yuki’s contractual situation, showing a concrete interest in having him on the team in 2025. Tsunoda is tied, Helmut Marko has an option available to secure his services also next season (the deadline for exercising it is supposed to be the end of August) so it will be up to him to decide the future. A Red Bull option (which today appears to be a small glimmer of hope), confirmation in Racing Bull (most popular choice) or accepting his exit from the family that allowed him to make his debut in Formula 1.

“This is the first season in which Yuki is proving to be consistently fast – explained Marko – while also managing to control his emotions, which was his biggest problem. To be fair to you, you have always had flashes of speed, but this year, apart from the race in China, you have been consistently fast. This is changing his profile and also the consideration of him. A seat in Red Bull? It must be constant and long-lasting, it could even be there in 2026, but everything will have to be evaluated.”

The paradox is that Tsunoda, a driver protected by Honda, could arrive at the wheel of Red Bull exactly when the Japanese company breaks off relations with the team. Marko claims to have priority in managing Yuki (“we have supported him in recent years, so we will have to see”) but there are many who believe that in the long term Tsunoda’s future lies in Aston Martin, Honda’s next destination. In this case we are talking about 2027, a date that today seems very distant but not so remote for the pilot market.

For Yuki at the moment the question mark is the next two years. He could stay in Racing Bull, focus only on 2025 hoping for a promotion the following season, or put pressure on Marko to be released.

Twelve months ago it would not have been an impossible undertaking, today the scenario is different. Racing Bull also has Liam Lawson on the bench, who should join Tsunoda in 2025, Ayamu Iwasa (currently in Superformula) and Isack Hadjar (third in Formula 2). There is one final consideration: Ricciardo is missing from this whole scenario, who only three months ago was at center stage as a potential candidate for Red Bull. With the exception of the sprint race in Miami, so far Daniel has not lived up to expectations, but in Formula 1 two positive Grands Prix are enough to change everything. As long as you actually do them.