Among the several moves made by Red Bull within its two Formula 1 teams (Red Bull Racing and RB) something that stood out was the apparent belittlement made to Yuko Tsunoda. When Sergio Pérez left Red Bull Racing, its main team, his replacement was 22-year-old Liam Lawson, who until now had only been a reserve driver, becoming full-time RB driver for a little over two months, taking over Daniel Ricciardo.
Lawson was chosen over 24-year-old Japanese driver Yuki Tsunoda, who had raced for AlphaTauri (later renamed as RB) since 2021. This leaves the feeling that Tsunoda was overlooked, and Christian Horner, Red Bull boss, even suggested that it might be time for him to leave, in a very blunt way:
"You can't have a driver in the support team for five years. You can't always be the bridesmaid. You've either got to let them go at that point or look at something different", he said during a media lunch at the end of the season, picked on Formula1.com.
Red Bull has traditionally used their secondary team, RB, previously known as Toro Rosso and Alpha Tauri, as a way to test their most promising young drivers before promoting them to the main team. World champions winners Max Verstappen and Sebastian Vettel started that way.
Tsunoda will still have a place next year, and is appreciated by Horner. "Certainly Yuki impressed the team when he tested last week in Abu Dhabi. His feedback was good. And I think that he, if required, would be there to be drawn on if we needed to".
However, it seems clear that Yuki Tsunoda, despite having his best season ever in 2024, is not set to follow those same steps. Tsunoda's new partner, 18-year-old Isack Hadjar, will be measured in front of veteran Tsunoda. And if he performs better than the Japanese, Tsunoda's place in the whole of Red Bull might be numbered...