Tsunoda and Red Bull 'relationship' hugely pressured: Is it about to break?

No matter how well Yuki Tsunoda performs, he will never get a chance at Red Bull Racing. Although Christian Horner has never said it out loud, the team boss for some reason does not like the driver of the VCARB development team. It may have taken a while, but Tsunoda has now also become convinced that he is fighting a losing battle within Red Bull. A seat at the modest VCARB is what the Japanese driver will have to settle for, despite his sky-high ambitions.

Audi had wanted to redeem Tsunoda

Tsunoda was all the more surprised when Red Bull exercised the option in his contract earlier this season, which means he has to stay with VCARB for the coming season. Why did Horner do this if Tsunoda is not going to move up? Officially because Tsunoda is a great driver for VCARB. But it may have had to do with the fact that Audi had Tsunoda in mind as a driver for '25 and beyond. By exercising the option, Red Bull can ask for a transfer fee for Tsunoda. However, Red Bull had not counted on one thing: Audi do not want that, so the Tsunoda option was off the table in Germany.

As a result, Tsunoda is now stuck with a mid-table team that is not and will never compete for Formula 1 victories - while Red Bull and Audi do have that as their goal. As a result, Tsunoda's career has more or less come to a standstill: No Audi, no Red Bull Racing, although the media continues to bombard Tsunoda with questions about a move to the latter team as Sergio Perez's successor.

"I don't know," Tsunoda said of that at Spa, for example. "At this point, I don't know if they concern me, or maybe they concern me, I don't know. Just like, I guess it is the same for everyone. I don't think other drivers except Max [Verstappen] get any information about that, so there's probably a conversation in the background. Hopefully, we'll have a good conversation, and I think I've done what I should have done, and I'm happy with what I've done until today."

Tsunoda feels no support from Red Bull

With a vicious remark, Tsunoda made it clear how he feels Red Bull is treating him. "Even after you guys [the media] talk about the stats, talk about the rumours, it's quite clear how much more support I get compared to other drivers," Tsunoda said, showing that he feels disadvantaged by his own employer. "I'm happy with what I've done, and it's the things I can control, and those things, I can't control those things. I just focus now on the things I can control, which is performance, and I say I've done a good job."

Tsunoda and Red Bull, they basically remain linked for at least another year. But that the relationship is fragile - if there is a relationship at all - became clear from a single word; the answer to the question of whether Tsunoda has spoken to Horner or advisor Helmut Marko in recent weeks: "Nope." The question is how long will it be before things break down and burst open with the increasingly exasperated Tsunoda?

This article was written in collaboration with Olly Darcy