Christian Horner has made it clear: Yuki Tsunoda must raise his game to keep his Red Bull seat beyond the 2025 season.
Yuki Tsunoda must raise his game if he hopes to keep his seat at Red Bull in the medium term.
That’s the warning from team boss Christian Horner, who admits that with neither Liam Lawson nor Tsunoda managing to match Max Verstappen in 2025, the constructors’ championship is already out of reach.
“We have to be realistic,” he said in Barcelona. “Only one of our cars is regularly in contention for victory.”
“But Max still has every chance in the drivers’ standings, and Yuki is supporting him as best he can.”
Tsunoda Future Still Uncertain
However, Horner did not say that the Japanese driver had done enough to secure his place alongside Verstappen in 2026. It’s also worth noting that Tsunoda is closely linked to Honda, which will switch to Aston Martin next year.
“Yuki fits in very well with the team,” Horner added. “He’s a good guy who brings a strong contribution to the garage.”
“But if he wants to be considered for next year, he’ll need to keep improving.”
Horner did acknowledge, however, that Tsunoda also faces “the toughest job in Formula 1: being Max’s teammate.”
“Constant comparisons are tough. The psychological impact of competing against the best driver in Formula 1—possibly the greatest of all time—should not be underestimated.”
“But Yuki is doing well so far and scoring points consistently.”
In the latest season of Drive to Survive, Horner named Oscar Piastri as the ideal Red Bull driver for the future. When asked about this, Horner smiled.
“Oscar is a fantastic driver. Very strong mentally. He’s a complete driver, even though he’s still very young.”
“He has a bright future ahead of him and a long-term contract with McLaren. We respect that.”
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