Red Bull F1 driver Yuki Tsunoda suffered another disappointing weekend in Las Vegas, where he failed to score again as he finished 19th, feeling that the entrance of a safety car after he pitted caused him to miss again: "It feels like everything so far is going against me, the luck and everything. I don't like the word luck, but this weekend feels like it's really bad luck", the Japanese driver said.
Worst of all, Tsunoda ends contract in 2025, and hasn't made too many merits to secure his seat for next year in Red Bull, currently one of the few teams in Formula 1 that hasn't announced their driver line-up for next year (besides Max Verstappen, who of course remains). And he could have competition from his own country: Ayumu Iwasa, newly crowned champion for Super Formula, the open-wheel competition held mostly in Japan.
Iwasa, while competing for Team Mugen in Super Formula, has also worked for Red Bull since 2021, making some F1 tests already, including standing for Verstappen at a free practice session at the 2025 Bahrain Grand Prix.
Iwasa "would be better than Tsunoda" believes his engineer
Tomohiko Koike, race engineer in Team Mugen, said that he's been getting better and better. "This season he has been very consistent and I would say his average performance has been the best of any driver, better than Tsuboi and Kakunoshin Ohta. It's quite easy to imagine him in Formula 1. I think he would be better than Tsunoda."
"I don't know Tsunoda personally, but I think Iwasa, not only in terms of driving skill, but his ability to set up the car is quite impressive, on the same level as [Tomoki] Nojiri. That's why I think he would be able to drive better in F1 than some drivers who are on the grid. He just needs to be given a chance, that's the most difficult thing."
However, according to Motorsport, there are currently no rumours that Red Bull is considering promoting the 24-year-old Iwasa to Formula 1.
Further reading: Yuki Tsunoda reveals his favourite anime to binge-watch during the long flights to Formula 1 races