Yuki Tsunoda appears to be out at Red Bull as the team eyes a new team-mate for Max Verstappen ahead of next season.
Tsunoda has had a challenging 2025 so far. He was performing well in the Racing Bulls during the open races of the season, but after his switch to Red Bull, he has only scored 10 points for Red Bull.
There has been a revolving door of drivers at Red Bull. Ever since Daniel Ricciardo left Red Bull at the end of 2018, drivers have rarely lasted more than a season with the team.
Tsunoda himself was brought into the team mid-season after former team prinicipal Christian Horner, who was sacked earlier this month, decided to drop Liam Lawson just two races into the season.
Reuters
|Yuki Tsunoda's time at Red Bull appears to be up
The decision has already been made that the Japanese driver will be cut from the team at the end of the season; however, his seat will be safe until Abu Dhabi.
With Horner out at Red Bull, a major shift seems to be taking place within the team, as Helmut Marko now becomes the longest-standing team member in the factory.
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Red Bull is likely to look to their academy and young drivers for their next driver, which likely leaves them with three options.
The first is Liam Lawson, the man Tsunoda replaced just two races into the season. He has impressed with the Racing Bulls, which seems an easier car to drive than the sister team’s car.
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Reuters
|Isack Hadjar seems to be the most likely to replace Yuki Tsunoda
He has outperformed Tsunoda in most races since the swap and it has become more obvious that the car is the problem more than the driver.
Isack Hadjar also appears to be in the conversation. In his rookie season with Racing Bulls, he has impressed during the season, but needs more time to develop in the car before getting the main team’s seat. Hadjar currently has only one fewer point than Lawson and Tsunoda combined.
The Frenchman has also revealed he is open to the switch: “I don’t know what’s going on over there, obviously,” he said when asked about his former Racing Bulls team-mate’s struggles.
“Only thing I can tell is Yuki is very fast.
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“When I signed the contract with Red Bull four years ago, the goal was to get to Red Bull. So hasn’t changed.
"It’s definitely interesting. I like to, I would obviously love to, out of curiosity, go and have a look for myself.”
The third and most outlandish option would be teenager Arvid Lindblad, the young Briton currently racing in F2, but has been granted an exemption that allows him to get a superlicense at 17. The license is usually only for 18 and up.
Reuters
|Arvid Lindblad has an outside shot at the seat
He took control of the Red Bull during Free Practice 1 during the British Grand Prix, and has been completing a lot of laps in older F1 cars to increase his experience within the team.
Despite the talent the youngster has, he is the outside chance for the replacement, as it seems much more likely that he will take the seat of whichever Racing Bulls driver gets the call-up to Red Bull.