Racing toward a dead end
Yuki Tsunoda is driving with a point to prove, but Red Bull still isn't giving him the time of day.
Twelve years after Kamui Kobayashi scored his first and last F1 podium at the 2012 Japanese Grand Prix, Yuki Tsunoda's P10 finish on Sunday cemented him as the first Japanese driver to secure points at a home race since.
“It feels amazing,” Tsunoda said after the race. “After a long two years of being unable to score points (in Japan) it’s a very happy feeling.”
The precious point—and back-to-back points finishes—will buoy the 23-year-olds hopes of reaching Red Bull, a goal AlphaTauri Team Principal Franz Tost said he was “on the right track” to achieve in April 2023. Even Red Bull adviser Helmut Marko seemed impressed, saying, "His mistakes and lack of control are a thing of the past.”
Indeed, Tsunoda, a driver who was once defined by persistent fart jokes and reluctance to exercise, has matured in recent years into one who earnestly congratulates his team on a pit stop well done that helped him undercut his midfield rivals.
Having swept teammate Daniel Ricciardo in qualifying and races for the entirety of the season so far, Tsunoda has done everything he can in his de facto audition for the primary team. The only issue is that Red Bull could very likely not be paying any attention to the Japanese driver, making Tsunoda’s goal of a seat in a top team nothing more than a mirage.
Ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix, F1 journalist Andrew Benson told the BBC, “Marko does not rate Tsunoda, who was forced on him by engine partner Honda. Some inside RB say that is unfair, and that Tsunoda has been performing at an elite level so far this season. But Marko remains to be convinced.”
Marko’s sentiments reflect a team that chose to recycle Ricciardo over picking a driver from its 10-strong junior program and which has a reputation of indecisiveness on the much-coveted seat beside Verstappen.
After all, why should Red Bull draw from their well when it’s raining talent everywhere else on the grid? Sergio Perez has three P2 finishes, duly fulfilling his role as Max Verstappen’s second driver. Carlos Sainz, a Red Bull junior who competed alongside Verstappen at Toro Rosso in 2015, has podiumed in every race he’s competed in this year as he tries to land a job in 2025.
If Tsunoda doesn’t find himself in a Red Bull seat next year, surely he benefits from the game of musical chairs seeing 13 drivers out of a contract. Tsunoda owes his career in part to the generous backing of Honda, who added him to its Formula Dream Project in 2016 and has supplied Red Bull’s power unit from 2019 to 2022, and continue to support the team through 2025.
“F1 takes a lot of money,” said Japanese sports writer Masahiro Owari told the New York Times ahead of last year’s Japanese Grand Prix. “I think a lot of the reason [Tsunoda] is on the team is because of Honda’s support.”
While Aston Martin will welcome Honda’s helping hand in 2026, it feels unlikely that the Silverstone-based team will ask Tsunoda to drive alongside Lance Stroll’s ostensibly safe seat—especially as the team continues to lean on Fernando Alonso wringing the neck of the car; he’s the benefactor of 24 of the team’s 33 points. Tsunoda said as much last May, saying it was too early to make a claim about a spot on the team.
As it stands now, despite theoretical options, consistent performances, and lip service from Marko about his Red Bull prospects, Tsunoda is realistically stuck with VCARB for the foreseeable future.
But the uniqueness of a mirage—what separates it from just a delusion—is that everyone experiencing the desert together sees it: It’s an optical illusion of sunlight bending and refracting to create the image of much-sought-after water. Ricciardo has made optimistic claims about joining Red Bull, saying in the past it would be a dream way to end his career, and he’s only recently reigned it in, insisting he’s instead focusing on the long season ahead of him, rather than the “big picture” of his future.
Even Pierre Gasly, who left the Red Bull family for now-withered, but once greener pastures at Alpine, didn’t see a future at AlphaTauri’s older sister team. In their time as teammates, Gasly outqualified Tsunoda 33 to 11, and bested him in 30 of 44 races, scoring 133 points to Tsunoda’s 44. With a debatably less competitive teammate in Ricciardo, it feels unlikely that Tsunoda can make enough of an impression at VCARB to make a case for himself given that his teammate who handily outscored him two years in a row felt his best chance at an F1 career was at one of three teams yet to score points this year.
Tsunoda doesn’t have any choice but to continue to drive like he has a point to prove—afterall, there are 10 Red Bull junior drivers waiting in the wings should he botch the rest of his season. But with so few options ahead of him, maybe Tsunoda shouldn’t count out pursuing his other dream: opening up a restaurant. He might see more of a future for himself wearing a chef’s hat versus a crash helmet.
On-track debris:
Kick Sauber had its fastest pit stops of the year at the Japanese Grand Prix: a 4.0 for Valtteri Bottas. After heating problems on the car that caused the wheel gun to shred the wheel nut, Bottas is not optimistic the problem will be truly fixed until China.
The busy drivers’ market will of course be the make-or-break for drivers, but Mercedes recent topple down the order have also appeared to sour its chances of getting a competitive driver from the grid for next year following Lewis Hamilton’s departure:
