Horner admits: Red Bull may have to release Tsunoda after 2025

Now that the question of the second bucket at Red Bull is settled, what will happen to the future of Yuki tsunoda ? The Japanese was not retained by the Austrian team to support Max Verstappen in 2025, who preferred Liam Lawson despite his relative inexperience compared to the Japanese driver. A disappointment, of course, and questions: Does Yuki Tsunoda really have a future within the Red Bull fold? Should he still show patience and resilience at Racing Bulls while waiting for an opportunity that may never come?

The Honda-backed driver will be at a crossroads in 2025 and Christian Horner admits that the Japanese could be released from the Red Bull fold if the parent team does not offer him a promotion. "We are fully aware that if we are not able to offer Yuki an opportunity – in all honesty, this year [2025] – does it make sense [to keep him]? You can't have a driver in the sister team for five years. You can't always be the bridesmaid. You either have to let them go or you have to look at something different.", concedes the Red Bull Team Principal.

Tsunoda, an unprecedented loyalty to Racing Bulls

Next year, Yuki Tsunoda will play his fifth season with the team. Faenza. A rare longevity within the Red Bull B team: until now, only Pierre Gasly and Daniil Kvyat had played more than four seasons with the Italian team, each with different contexts and with a missed promotion to Red Bull. The Japanese, himself, has not yet had this opportunity but according to Christian Horner, the disappointment of not having obtained a place at Milton Keynes does not affect the determination of the Japanese driver.