Red Bull has admitted that Hiroki Tsunoda’s performance is still “not good enough” as a decision on the 2026 driver line-up approaches.
Tsunoda’s performance has improved dramatically since Azerbaijan, and he earned points in the sprint race and main grand prix held in the United States last weekend by finishing seventh in both events.
However, Tsunoda is still far from the standard set by teammate Max Verstappen, who dominated in Austin and won for the third time in the past four races.
At the American Grand Prix, Verstappen beat Tsunoda by nearly eight-tenths of a point, finishing nearly a minute ahead of the Japanese driver.
Red Bull will make a final decision on who Verstappen’s partner will be for next season after this weekend’s Mexico City Grand Prix.
Red Bull team principal Laurent Mequise said of Tsunoda’s current form: “We always want more. We won’t say this is enough. We are right in quoting numbers.”
“I’m not saying this is good enough. Nobody feels that way and neither does Yuki. All I’m saying is that it’s two races in the points, two very good starts, two very good first laps and it’s an improvement compared to what we’ve shown so far this year.”
“Is this enough? No, I’d be lying if I said that, and I’m sure Yuki wouldn’t like it if I said this was enough.”
Where will Yuki Tsunoda go?
Tsunoda had a good weekend in Austin.
Tsunoda is expected to be replaced by Isaac Hajjar of the Racing Bulls, who had an excellent rookie season.
It’s still unclear where Tsunoda will be next year.
He could return to sister team Racing Bulls alongside Liam Lawson or Arvid Lindblad, who is tipped to move up from F2.
Either way, Tsunoda will likely finish the remainder of the 2025 season with Red Bull.
“I think (Kakuda) has a role to play,” Mekies added.
“A, because there are still discussions about the constructors’ championship. Obviously not for the win, but for other aspects. That’s why we need Yuki.”
“And B, the faster Yuki is, the more we can split the test across the cars.
“We said several times this weekend, ‘We’re going to test this on that car and we’re going to test this on the other car.’
“So it’s important for us to get Yuuki, who is very fast. And from a support situation, battle and strategy standpoint, if Yuuki does well, we could be in a two-on-two position at some stage.”
Tsunoda is aiming for another points finish in Mexico City.
“I’m coming to Mexico ready to fight for points again,” he said in the Red Bull preview. “Austin had a very positive weekend during the race and was able to prove himself with this car.
“I was confident in my long runs and had a solid weekend. Now I need to do short runs in the same places and work on improving so I can qualify better.”
“The aim is to have a consistent weekend overall, which will put me in a position to score better points for the team and race closer to the top of the grid than I should.”