Danny Herbert

Yuki Tsunoda’s position and, more importantly, future position within the two Red Bull teams in Formula 1 are somewhat baffling for both the casual and more-established observer.

The Japanese driver has competed full-time for the Visa Cash App RB team since the start of the 2021 season, then under the outfit’s Scuderia AlphaTauri guise.

Yet, he’s never really been seriously considered a contender for a promotion to the main Red Bull team. That’s a team now built heavily around three-time champion Max Verstappen but arguably lacking a super-fast or super-dependable teammate since a prime Daniel Ricciardo’s shock exit at the end of 2018.

When assessed alongside the Toro Rosso/AlphaTauri to Red Bull driver promotions since then (I’m thinking Pierre Gasly and Alex Albon here) Tsunoda has shown more than enough to earn himself at least a chance alongside Verstappen.

Admittedly Red Bull’s hand was forced by Ricciardo’s departure in Gasly’s somewhat premature step-up – the Frenchman not really being ready for the move that didn’t work out in either party’s favour.

His eventual replacement, Albon, was only six months into his first season in F1 – which in itself was a surprise call-up at the start of the season in a surprise phone call from Helmut Marko whilst Albon prepared himself for a Nissan drive in Formula E.

On the face of it, someone with Tsunoda’s experience should be a contender for a Red Bull Racing seat if the expected move to drop Sergio Perez does indeed happen. Marko has made it clear no decision will be made until after Abu Dhabi, however the decision seems to be between trying out newcomer Liam Lawson or keeping Perez for another season.

Tsunoda doesn’t appear to be getting a look-in which it seems is down to a combination of political reasons and doubts over his in-car maturity.

He himself was recently asked about how it has taken so long to finally even get a test in a contemporary Red Bull Racing car – which was publicly pushed for by the Honda Racing Corporation.

“I kind of got used to how difficult to get even a single day of testing [it was when I am] outperforming most of the team-mates,” said Tsunoda.

“But yeah, there are probably things that I didn’t really know [about], something going on around the background that I didn’t know. And for sure, at the same time, there’s probably the view that I’m not really able to improve as much as they wanted at this level, especially for radio communications.”

That speaks volumes.

He believes there are indeed political reasons surrounding this effective snub – rumoured to be on Christian Horner’s shoulders – but he also acknowledges the more public stumbling block that is his early-career outbursts on the radio. I’m sure those instances that played out on live F1 broadcasts weren’t at all liked by the team or its commercial partners.

But moves have since been made to calm Tsunoda down on the radio and better his all-round driving package – with moving him out to Faenza close to the RB team’s headquarters to improve overall integration with the team playing a key role.

Tsunoda is very appreciative of Honda’s assistance in securing his post-season Red Bull test, although his test is perhaps more about satisfying Honda and setting a yardstick for Lawson than testing him out for a race seat.

Interestingly, Tsunoda’s ties to Honda don’t look like severing any time soon, but of course Red Bull’s power unit supply link with the company are soon coming to an end. Where this leaves Tsunoda remains to be seen, but it can’t possibly be a positive development in the driver’s future in the Red Bull family.

He has reportedly been in talks with Alpine, Haas and Williams this season, with the Haas deal most intriguing to keep an eye on after its recent deal with Japanese manufacturer Toyota. I wonder how that could play out with Tsunoda’s current links to Honda.

Wherever Tsunoda’s future lies, however, it doesn’t seem to be at Red Bull Racing. A move to another team in the midfield outside of the Red Bull family is probably his best option in getting the most he can out of his F1 career.