£1.5m-a-year F1 driver’s future is ‘hanging by a thread’ after ‘terrible’ weekend at the Austrian Grand Prix

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The Austrian Grand Prix heaped the pressure on several drivers in the Formula 1 paddock.

Alpine are considering a move for Valtteri Bottas after another difficult weekend for Franco Colapinto.

Williams suffered another double retirement, with Carlos Sainz’s move from Ferrari taking another backwards step as he failed to start the race.

Aston Martin driver Lance Stroll never looked in contention to score points, despite teammate Fernando Alonso comfortably finishing in the top 10.

However, Red Bull were once again the focus of many people’s attention at the Austrian Grand Prix.

Max Verstappen’s race ended on the opening lap when Andrea Kimi Antonelli crashed into him going into the first hairpin.

Yuki Tsunoda was unable to capitalise in his absence, and journalist Andrew Benson believes time is running out for the Japanese driver to prove he has what it takes to stay on the grid.

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

Yuki Tsunoda’s Formula 1 future ‘hanging by a thread’ after the Austrian Grand Prix

Benson was speaking on The Chequered Flag Podcast after the race at the Red Bull Ring and explained: “I think we should say something about Tsunoda, he had a terrible, terrible day.

“Verstappen, out of the first lap, third corner, Red Bull needed Tsunoda to have a strong race. OK, he had a bad qualifying; he was actually only two-tenths off Verstappen in Q1, but that was the difference between seventh place and 18th, I think it was.

“But he drove like he’d been in Formula 1 for five minutes, not five years.

“He had two collisions, and the second one that he got a 10-second penalty for with Franco Colapinto was very clumsy and ended up finishing last.

“This is a guy whose Formula 1 career is hanging by a thread at the moment, and it doesn’t look like to me that he’s going to carry on beyond the end of this year.”

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

Yuki Tsunoda’s Red Bull move questioned after latest Austrian Grand Prix failure

Tsunoda, who is on a £1.5m-a-year contract, has only scored seven points in his nine Grand Prix weekends as a Red Bull driver.

He’s slipped to 17th in the drivers’ championship, falling behind both Racing Bulls drivers in the process.

Benson went on to say that Red Bull’s management team ‘never really had any faith’ in Tsunoda, and his position in the team was a result of his Honda backing.

It speaks volumes that Lawson was initially chosen over Tsunoda despite being the more experienced driver and performing better when they went head-to-head at RB last season.

Benson believes the ‘real answer’ Tsunoda wasn’t promoted is because Christian Horner and Helmut Marko ‘didn’t trust’ the 25-year-old.

He suggests that Tsunoda needs to turn his form around ‘significantly’ to avoid being dropped at the end of the season, and doesn’t believe another seat will become available if Red Bull part ways with him.

David Coulthard believes there’s no pressure on Tsunoda as it’s so well known that the car simply isn’t drivable unless you’re Verstappen.

However, with Hadjar said to be Red Bull’s favoured partner for Verstappen in 2026, he needs to up his game to convince Horner and co. that he deserves another season in the seat.