Fans tell Yuki Tsunoda which team gives him the ‘best hope’ of staying in F1 for 2026 amid growing Red Bull pressure

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There are only a few drivers who are currently under more pressure in Formula 1 right now than Yuki Tsunoda.

The 2025 season started very positively for Yuki Tsunoda, as he qualified fifth for the Australian Grand Prix.

Tsunoda was unlucky not to score points in Melbourne and should have earned a decent haul in China, had it not been for a poor strategy call from Racing Bulls.

It appeared as though Tsunoda had got over being snubbed by Red Bull when they promoted Liam Lawson into Sergio Perez’s seat instead of him.

However, just three races into the season, Tsunoda had been handed his dream position at Red Bull alongside Max Verstappen, and was hoping to impress his home fans at the Japanese Grand Prix in what was potentially a race-winning car.

Unfortunately for Tsunoda, it’s proved to only be a race-winning car in the hands of Verstappen, with the 25-year-old struggling to finish in the points right now.

There are serious question marks over Tsunoda’s Red Bull future, and fans have now decided where he might end up in 2026 if he’s not offered a contract extension by new team principal Laurent Mekies.

READ MORE: Red Bull driver Yuki Tsunoda’s life outside F1 from height to parents

F1 fans tell Yuki Tsunoda where he might be driving in 2026 amid Red Bull pressure

Fans took to Reddit to discuss Tsunoda’s potential next steps and came up with a variety of options.

One user said: “Either IndyCar or IMSA with an Acura-backed team,” while another suggested Aston Martin might be Tsunoda’s best bet because of his Honda connections, and explained: “Reserve driver at Aston Martin with a clause in his contract for a full-time seat in 2027. Who will he replace? Let’s wait and see.”

Giving a more thorough answer, one user said: “First off, I don’t think Tsunoda is finding a full seat outside of Red Bull. Teams are locked down, and he’d be a reserve at best.

“So the question is, what will happen at Red Bull, and does Yuki stay?

“In my opinion, there is no scenario where Liam goes back to Red Bull or Yuki goes back to Racing Bulls. I am also 95% sure Hadjar will be at Red Bull next year and also 95% sure that Lindblad will be in F1 next year.”

Another fan didn’t think a Formula 1 team was Tsunoda’s next step and suggested: “Probably not somewhere where the name of the team includes “F1” in it. I’d guess some Honda-powered team in IndyCar. His best hope of staying in F1 is as a reserve driver for Aston Martin.”

The arrival of Mekies gave one fan hope that his Red Bull might career not be finished and said: “He was on Haas’ radar for a junior program driver, but RBR held him… And now RBR appointed Mekies to RBR, I actually feel his chances of being retained by RBR for 2026 have slightly gone up. Mekies knows what Tsunoda can do; he’s also seen first-hand what happened to Lawson, and can compare Tsunoda-Lawson”

One user then explained why Tsunoda’s fate is probably already sealed: “As a midfielder, he was reliable, but never set the world alight. As a top 3 team, he should at least be bringing it into the points some of the time. His performance has been absolutely dismal, and with so many years of experience under his belt, we’re probably seeing that his potential has peaked.”

“Reserve for AM depending on drugovich if he wants to do IMSA & Formula E,” said another fan, before F1’s newest team, Cadillac, who have been linked with Tsunoda, was brought up: “His best chance is Cadillac but I feel like they will have other options.

One fan finally concluded: “He’ll probably end up reserve at Aston and finding a seat in WEC, FE, Indycar or Super Formula.”

READ MORE: All you need to know about Red Bull Racing from engine to Ford links

Guenther Steiner questions Yuki Tsunoda’s immediate Formula 1 future

Red Bull appear keen for Tsunoda to see out this season, but there are still 12 races left, and they can’t afford for their second car to continually miss out on scoring points.

Tsunoda has finished last in back-to-back races, and while he tends to get very close to Verstappen in practice, his qualifying and race pace is far more concerning.

Guenther Steiner has admitted that Tsunoda might not see out the season with Red Bull, which could open up a spot for Isack Hadjar to earn an early promotion and allow F2 star Arvid Lindblad to make his full Formula 1 debut this year.

It’s a precarious position, and one entirely created by Red Bull themselves, with no other team on the grid suffering with the same problem that only one of their drivers can perform in the car.

It could be argued Alpine are in a similar situation with Pierre Gasly and his teammates, but there are much larger fundamental flaws with their 2025 machine, while Verstappen already has two victories under his belt this year.