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Tsunoda sends cryptic message after Red Bull snub: 'I sense it like this'
After receiving the disappointing news that Red Bull has no plans to promote him to the main team, Yuki Tsunoda now faces the challenge of proving them wrong at Racing Bulls. While the Japanese driver hasn’t completely given up hope of a future Red Bull Racing seat, the real question remains—how realistic is it that he will one day become Max Verstappen’s teammate?
According to Tsunoda, Red Bull did not select Liam Lawson as their second driver at Red Bull Racing purely based on performance. However, he isn’t sure what criteria were ultimately used in the decision. "They chose Liam probably, like, thirty minutes before the announcement," Tsunoda reflected to GPblog and others.
"I mean, to be honest, I didn't really dig into why the reason why. So okay. Well, I'll do my best anyway." After Sergio Perez left Red Bull at the end of 2024, Red Bull decided to promote Liam Lawson to the top team instead of Yuki Tsunoda. Lawson's first full season in the sport will be spent with Red Bull. Tsunoda joined the B-team in 2021 and is now entering his fifth season there.
"I didn't take the kind of tone or impression from them that they chose because of the performance. I sense it a bit more like, I don't know. Maybe they have something they wanna do, or they wanna create the situation for their best, I guess. I don't know. In terms of mood," Tsunoda said.
Will Tsunoda end up joining Red Bull after all?
According to the Racing Bull driver, Red Bull's management did say that the door is still not permanently closed for him. Being in a team leader role alongside rookie Isack Hadjar may help Tsunoda develop, he explained. "But they didn't say, they kinda mentioned one thing that is not really coming from performance. That's one thing. It's something like they said. So I really did get in further, but anyway, at the same time, they clearly said that you know, anything can happen in this world.
You saw it last year, what's happened, and even to our team as well. So just give what what you're doing. And also, I think from Helmut (Marko) clearly, I got it because of his personality. I clearly got the direction that you have to be calm. I think it's also good for you as a driver to be in a leadership position to develop yourself. So that kind of direction I got, and I just have to deliver it this year." The Japanese driver concluded.
This article was written in collaboration with Ludo van Denderen
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