Christian Horner was right all along after raising one concern about Yuki Tsunoda in private last year

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Many Formula 1 fans clamoured for Red Bull to promote Yuki Tsunoda in 2024. It was increasingly clear in the second half of the season that Sergio Perez’s time with the team was coming to an end.

That set up a shoot-out between Tsunoda and Racing Bulls teammate Liam Lawson for the opportunity to partner Max Verstappen. The former had effectively retired Daniel Ricciardo by beating him convincingly, and also had the edge over Lawson.

Despite that, Christian Horner went for the inexperienced New Zealander when Perez inevitably lost his seat. It was a gamble that backfired in remarkable fashion.

Red Bull were so alarmed by Lawson’s underperformance at the outset that they dropped him just two races into the new season. Tsunoda finally got his chance.

The 25-year-old has been better than Lawson (admittedly over a much larger sample), but still fallen well short of expectations. In eight races, he’s scored seven points, and failed to reach Q3 more often than not.

Christian Horner didn’t think Yuki Tsunoda had the ‘temperament’ to race for Red Bull

Tsunoda spent four full seasons at the sister team – far longer than Red Bull usually take to evaluate drivers. The feeling was that he wasn’t ready for the step up, but was too good to be dropped.

Speaking in private last year, Christian Horner raised concerns over Tsunoda’s temperament. And there have been a few indications in recent months that his attitude may not be quite right.

For instance, Tsunoda played down the difficulty of driving the Red Bull car in the simulator, then immediately backtracked when he got behind the wheel for his Suzuka debut.

Tsunoda expected Red Bull to congratulate him when he was close to Verstappen during his first practice sessions. But the team knew he hadn’t achieved anything yet.

What’s more, Tsunoda expressed confidence that he could challenge Verstappen ‘soon’ despite the enormous gulf in pedigree. While some may have admired that ambition, Red Bull bosses have tended to prefer humility from their second driver.

There have also been some signs that Tsunoda is lapsing back into a bad habit on the radio. One can understand, though, why he may be frustrated with his situation.

Why Yuki Tsunoda looks set to drop off the F1 grid in 2026

Overall, one gets the impression that Horner may have been right to have serious reservations about Tsunoda. But in the end, his hand was somewhat forced.

Even if Lawson had improved in future races – Red Bull clearly weren’t optimistic – they would, in all likelihood, have been extremely overreliant on Verstappen.

Tsunoda was a risk but it was one that the team had to take. And the experiment looks set to end in December.

A report on Tuesday claims Tsunoda is almost ‘certain’ to lose his Red Bull seat. And right now, there are no strong links with any alternative options on the grid.