RB CEO Peter Bayer has insisted that Yuki Tsunoda will be in the mix for a Red Bull Formula 1 promotion should he continue to deliver at the level he’s shown in 2024.
Tsunoda has delivered an encouraging campaign to date, amassing 10 more points than his more experienced team-mate Daniel Ricciardo to claim a 2025 extension.
But while Sergio Perez’s woes have prompted questions over his place, Red Bull has appeared to remain unenamoured with slotting Tsunoda next to Max Verstappen.
Ricciardo was touted as the likeliest candidate should a mid-season swap have transpired, while even Red Bull reserve Liam Lawson was better placed than Tsunoda.
The Japanese driver suggested at the Belgian Grand Prix that Red Bull’s continued dismissal towards his prospects might mean he has to consider alternative teams.
However, Bayer is adamant that Tsunoda repeating the performances that he has produced throughout this season would see him emerge as a viable Red Bull option.
“Helmut [Marko, Red Bull’s motorsport advisor] said it himself, in German you say a swallow doesn’t make a summer,” Bayer told Motorsport.com.
“What it means is that if Yuki keeps racing on this level consistently, he will be considered for a seat in Red Bull Racing.
“That’s ultimately exactly our mission and the mission we’ve been given by the shareholders, and if that means that he needs another season next to a very strong Daniel, that could be an option.
“It could also be an option [to] say that, okay, we now believe he’s ready. So [then] we’ll talk to Liam.
“We’re not in a hurry, despite all the people [who] think we are, because we do have all the options in our hands.”
Tsunoda also claimed at Spa-Francorchamps last month that he is convinced “other factors” were involved in Red Bull’s decision-making process on its driver line-up.
Although those comments could be viewed as damaging to his hopes, RB boss Laurent Mekies believes that it demonstrates how ambitious Tsunoda is in the series.
“Yuki is a Red Bull driver. He must have the ambition to drive for Red Bull Racing. If he doesn’t have that – it’s wrong.
“I hope and I trust that he wants more than anything else to drive that car to win races. We also try to help him developing him in that way. So that’s what the business is.
“Was he fully happy to extend with us to drive for us next year?
“Yes, [and] it’s a question for him but because what he tells us is that he is mega ambitious, he can see a team [that] is mega ambitious and the fit is obviously working.
“It helps him develop, he has paid us back with quite [an] incredible level of performance.”
The ex-Ferrari Racing Director expressed that it has been a welcome shock to see the marked progress that Tsunoda has made between his third and fourth seasons.
“You expect a lot of things from a young guy between the first and the second year, maybe between the second and the third year,” Mekies said. “But you don’t expect that sort of phenomenal step between third and fourth, so – yes, he’s faster. Yes, he’s calmer. Yes, he’s better integrating the team, better feedback, hopefully happy!
“But seriously, he has been a reference point in the way that he gets out of the garage on Friday FP1 – and, bang: the first lap, he is there.”
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