Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies believes that Yuki Tsunoda deserves a full-time race seat after his dismissal in 2025. Tsunoda lost his spot alongside Max Verstappen to Isack Hadjar and has only served as a test and reserve driver for the Austrian team since this season. According to Mekies, however, Tsunoda possesses the qualities to get a new chance within the premier class.
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Yuki Tsunoda inherited the Red Bull seat in 2025 from Liam Lawson, who was demoted back to Racing Bulls after just two Grands Prix. Tsunoda did not perform much better than his predecessor over twenty-two races. The Japanese driver scored only 30 World Championship points, finishing in an unimpressive 17th place in the championship. For comparison: Max Verstappen fell two points short of the world championship; his tally stalled at 421.
Incredibly fast
Tsunoda has now been on the sidelines for several months, where he is primarily occupied with testing duties. Nevertheless, Mekies is still impressed by the young driver and believes that Tsunoda should get a second chance sooner or later. “Yuki is doing a great job with us, not only as a reserve driver but also as a simulator driver,” said the Frenchman in the Beyond the Grid podcast. “It’s great to have someone on board who has such deep and recent experience with the car. Of course, we also hope he gets a new chance soon, because drivers are simply there to race. That is what we wish for Yuki (Tsunoda, ed.),” Mekies assured.
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“We are aware that the second Red Bull car has not always performed strongly in the past,” he said, referring to the results of Sergio Pérez, Liam Lawson, and Tsunoda, among others. “We learn from that and try to improve ourselves every day. To be honest, Yuki has proven that he is incredibly fast, so let’s hope he gets another chance at some point.”
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