Christian Horner and Helmut Marko’s ‘politics’ created ‘forgotten’ casualty in 2026 Red Bull decision

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Red Bull Racing and Racing Bulls dominated the Formula 1 driver market discussion throughout 2025.

The majority of the 2026 F1 grid was already decided before the season started, but only Max Verstappen had a contract for next year when the campaign began.

Verstappen confirmed he wouldn’t be leaving Red Bull halfway through the campaign despite interest from Mercedes and Aston Martin.

However, Yuki Tsunoda failed to impress after replacing Liam Lawson after just two races, and both drivers were well aware that their chances of driving for Red Bull again beyond 2025 were over.

Isack Hadjar will be Verstappen’s teammate in 2026, while Arvid Lindblad was promoted from Formula 2 to join Lawson next season, with Tsunoda moving into a reserve driver role.

Helmut Marko and Christian Horner were both heavily involved in these driver decisions before both leaving Red Bull in the space of six months.

Journalist Stuart Codling believes that the ‘politics’ between the pair meant that Ayumu Iwasa was completely overlooked as an option despite his brilliant 2025 campaign.

READ MORE: Who is Red Bull reserve driver Ayumu Iwasa? Everything you need to know

Ayumu Iwasa ‘forgotten’ during 2026 Formula 1 Red Bull driver decision

Codling was on the Autosport Podcast and speaking about the driver who finished 28th in their top 50 ranking for 2025, Iwasa.

He said: “Yeah, he feels like a casualty of the amicable parting of ways with Honda, doesn’t he?

“And also, there’s a little bit of Red Bull politics in the background with Christian Horner being given the heave-ho in the middle of the year, and Helmut Marko thinking, yeah, I’ve won, I can do what I want now, and signing Arvid Lindblad, and various other things, signing Alex Dunne, and then not signing him, all that sort of madness has been going on behind the scenes.

“And Iwasa’s kind of been forgotten about, and you can tell by his performances in Super Formula that he’s a dog worth feeding, as a photographer I know would say, of people who are talented and maybe underappreciated.

“So, yeah, very much one of these drivers who’s fallen between the cracks in the Red Bull young driver ladder.

“What more could he possibly do? It’s ridiculous.”

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

Ayumu Iwasa told he would have been a better Red Bull option than Yuki Tsunoda

Red Bull signed Iwasa as part of their Junior Team in 2021, as he made his debut in Formula 3.

He only spent one year at that level before two campaigns in F2, where he recorded 12 podiums and five victories before making the switch to Super Formula.

Iwasa went on to win the Super Formula championship this year, a feat that should have put him on Red Bull’s radar for an F1 seat.

Despite Iwasa’s race engineer suggesting he would be ‘better than Tsunoda’, via Autosport, for Red Bull, he’s been overlooked once again.

He’s taken part in several F1 events, including the young drivers’ test at the end of the season in 2023, 2024 and 2025.

Unfortunately, it looks like Iwasa is unlikely to ever get his chance to race in Formula 1 as part of the Red Bull set-up unless Lindblad or Lawson seriously underperforms next year, and Alan Permane overlooks handing Tsunoda a comeback to give Iwasa his chance.

His impressive efforts in Super Formula might attract the attention of Toyota, and if that happens, then he might have an alternative route onto the grid with Haas one day.