Racing Bulls boss Alan Permane has revealed that the decision to change the timing of both Red Bull teams’ 2026 Formula 1 driver announcements was partly “out of respect” to the outgoing Yuki Tsunoda.
The Red Bull family was under intense media scrutiny during much of the second half of the season, when it became apparent that the Faenza-based squad’s rookie sensation Isack Hadjar was in line for a promotion to the full Red Bull team.
A chain of events soon followed, with accompanying rumours as to what would happen to Tsunoda – who was team-mates with Max Verstappen – and Hadjar’s partner Liam Lawson.
This was exacerbated by the fact that the team’s junior prospect, Arvid Lindblad, had gained an FIA super licence earlier than usually allowed.
Initially, Red Bull planned to confirm the two line-ups around the time of the Mexico City Grand Prix, but was eventually pushed back to the final round in Abu Dhabi.
In the end, Hadjar was finally confirmed as Verstappen’s partner for 2026, with Tsunoda demoted to a reserve role, with Lindblad getting the nod alongside Lawson at Racing Bulls.
In an exclusive interview with Motorsport Week before the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Permane revealed that the decision to delay the decision, and subsequently the confirmation, was three-fold – to ensure both teams concentrated on its fights in the Constructors’ Championship, and to afford utmost deference to Tsunoda, who he insisted still has a firm future in F1.
“Yeah, I mean, it’s just a case of, honestly, pushing back and just saying, we started off by saying the announcement was going to be after Mexico and then we wanted to just calm things down a bit and that’s largely because Red Bull were in a tight battle for the Constructors’ Championship,” he explained.
“We were in a tight battle for the Constructors’ Championship, so we just didn’t want any more noise about it and then by the time we got to Qatar we’d made our decisions and that’s why we announced it and out of respect for Yuki, honestly, so that he can have a final race with Red Bull Racing and I’m sure it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s his final race in Formula 1.”
READ MORE – Exclusive: Alan Permane reveals the attributes ‘phenomenal’ Isack Hadjar will give Red Bull
Discussion about this post