Yuki Tsunoda was beaming ahead of his return to Formula 1 with Racing Bulls in Zandvoort, replacing an injured Isack Hadjar.
Tsunoda’s relationship with Red Bull began in his F2 and F3 career, when he joined the junior team as he climbed through the ranks. He moved into his first full-time seat in 2021, with what was then Alpha Tauri.
He saw the team through their transition to Racing Bulls and raced alongside Pierre Gasly, Daniel Ricciardo and Nyck de Vries.
In the opening phase of 2025, Tsunoda received his chance at Red Bull after four years with their sister team. The Japanese driver replaced Liam Lawson, who was struggling in the first few races.
However, Tsunoda was unable to hold on to the seat. At the end of 2025, he lost his place at Red Bull in favour of Isack Hadjar and a place at Racing Bulls in favour of Arvid Lindblad. The Japanese driver instead was left off the grid and in a reserve role for the Milton Keynes team.
An unexpected call
Tsunoda had adjusted to being absent from the F1 grid with rumours of a future in IndyCar on the horizon. However, the Japanese driver received an ‘unexpected’ call-up back into F1 after Isack Hadjar fractured his hand boxing over summer break.
“It was a very unexpected thing.” He told media including Motorsport Week, “I’m actually quite calm and looking forward to tomorrow.”
The excitement was evident for Tsunoda, who was beaming when he said, “I can’t be sad. It was the moment I was waiting for. I was dying to have this kind of moment.”
Opportunities like these aren’t impossible, but they are rare. Liam Lawson, who steps up to Red Bull for the weekend, has benefited twice from drivers injuring their hands ahead of the Zandvoort weekend, replacing Ricciardo the first time.
We’ve also seen Ollie Bearman get his F1 chance when he replaced Carlos Sainz at Ferrari back in Jeddah 2024.
Tsunoda spoke about how these situations depend heavily on the situation within the teams and the drivers.
“It always depends on the current drivers who are competing this year.”
A frustrating season
Sitting out was hard for Tsunoda, who described watching from the sidelines after five years as ‘frustrating’.
“I was super… I don’t know if it’s frustrating or stressful,” He told the media, including Motorsport Week. “But watching from the screen every race, I was feeling like I really want to be back and driving.
“I was training almost every day for a long time. During training, I had a lot of time to do it because I didn’t have anything to do other than that.”
Though Tsunoda was surprised to return, he admitted he was physically ready, with plenty of time in various past cars to keep him in the best shape he could be.
“I’ve done four TPCs.Within that, I was doing five race distances. It’s pretty sharp. I had a good experience in a few laps in those TPCs. All I need to do is get used to this car, which I guess feels quite different in the procedures- I guess how to start and everything.”
With the overhaul of regulations, Tsunoda faces his biggest challenge: he’s never driven this era of cars. It’s an added level of difficulty, as it is a Sprint weekend, leaving the Racing Bulls driver with just one practice session to get up to speed.
Tsunoda said that with all the factors in mind, his only goal is to have fun rather than setting his sights on any tangible results.
“I think having one pre-practise with this would be a little bit tricky, but that’s why I’m not setting any expectations. For now, I just enjoy and just have fun, which I wanted to have for a long time.”
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