23-year-old F1 driver really wants to be considered for Red Bull seat in the future

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AlphaTauri driver Yuki Tsunoda has suggested that he would like to be considered for a drive at Red Bull one day and addressed rumours linking him with another team.

Yuki Tsunoda was one of the in-form drivers on the grid towards the end of the season as AlphaTauri attempted to chase down Williams in the Constructors’ Championship.

Speaking to RacingNews365, the Japanese star was discussing his future ahead of one of the most anticipated driver markets in recent F1 history.

Almost the entirety of the grid sees their contracts run out at the end of the 2024 season.

It means teams are going to have to move earlier than ever to secure their ideal pairing heading into the following year.

Normally, team principals want to wait until halfway through the campaign to make those decisions as they can judge who’s quick and who isn’t.

However, with so many seats to fill and so many potential options on the table, acting early will be risky but potentially necessary.

Yuki Tsunoda is one of those drivers who doesn’t have a contract for 2025 yet.

Tsunoda has now said he wants to be considered by Red Bull in the future, particularly as Sergio Perez’s current deal runs out in 12 months.

His AlphaTauri teammate Daniel Ricciardo also wants to throw his hat in the ring, but Christian Horner will simply want the best teammate possible for Max Verstappen.

Tsunoda wants to be considered by Red Bull, dismisses Aston Martin speculation

Speaking about his future, the 23-year-old said: “I hope so, to be honest, because I don’t want Red Bull to misunderstand that I am just focusing on Aston Martin or anything.

“I’m with AlphaTauri and have been with Honda since I was 18 years old, I just need to focus on performing for Red Bull, not for Aston Martin or something like that.

“Hopefully, they don’t misunderstand these things and hopefully they really consider me for the future.

“If I perform well, then I am the driver, but if I didn’t, I understand, but if I am able to show my performance, I would like to have a bit more attention.

“I saw on social media that Red Bull thinks I am already going to Aston Martin, and that is why they don’t put me in the Red Bull.

“I don’t know if that is true or not, because it is social media, but if it is, then it is not the case, but anyway, I just have to show my performance and convince them to make sure that I am the real material to be in a Red Bull.

“If it is the case, then I am not happy with it, because it’s not true, and I don’t know the conversations they are having with Honda – who still supply the engine.

“But for Honda, what they are saying as long as one day a Japanese driver can be successful, they don’t care where I go.

“They want a Japanese driver to be successful, and obviously, we would be lucky if we can work together for this success, but if they don’t, they don’t care about it – and that is what I like.

“They don’t care which team you are with, they don’t really focus on Aston Martin, just Yuki Tsunoda the driver to make me a successful driver.”

Tsunoda’s fourth season in F1 is arguably his most important

Red Bull and AlphaTauri are notoriously harsh when it comes to the assessment of their own drivers.

You only have to ask the likes of Daniil Kvyat, Alex Albon and Pierre Gasly whether they thought they got a fair crack at driving for the works team.

If Tsunoda wants to be considered by Red Bull going forward, he needs to deliver his best season in Formula 1.

Drivers don’t tend to be given as much time as Tsunoda has been at AlphaTauri as Red Bull continue to give youngsters from their academy their chance in F1.

It’s hard to see where he fits in at Aston Martin given how important Fernando Alonso is to the team and Lance Stroll’s unique situation at the manufacturer.

Tsunoda simply needs to drive fast enough that it’s impossible for him not to be on the grid in 2025.