‘Disastrous’ Formula 1 driver told he’s not ‘done enough’ to secure a seat on the 2026 grid

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The 2026 Formula 1 grid hasn’t changed for months, with six seats still technically available as four teams continue to assess their options.

Mercedes look set to retain George Russell and Andrea Kimi Antonelli, although negotiations have been dragging on for months.

Alpine appear to be leaning towards keeping Franco Colapinto, but are measuring him against reserve driver Paul Aron, with Flavio Briatore suggesting that they have no interest in external options.

This leaves Red Bull and the situation developing in the garage opposite Max Verstappen and their sister team Racing Bulls.

Verstappen has committed to at least another season with Red Bull after being heavily linked with Mercedes earlier in the season.

Isack Hadjar is being tipped for a Red Bull promotion, leaving Yuki Tsunoda and Liam Lawson vulnerable.

Helmut Marko has been impressed with Arvid Lindblad and is looking to promote him into Formula 1 in 2026.

That leaves Lawson and Tsunoda battling for the final Red Bull-backed seat, and journalist Scott Mitchell-Malm thinks the Japanese may be about to miss out on a race seat in 2026.

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

Yuki Tsunoda might not have ‘done enough’ to earn a Formula 1 race seat in 2026

Mitchell-Malm was asked about how Sergio Perez’s time at Red Bull is now judged on The Race F1 Podcast and said: “I understand why Red Bull felt they needed to make a change, but actually, clearly, he was doing all right still, even though it looks terrible to us from the outside.

“How many drivers will need to go in and replace him? If Isack Hadjar goes in at the start of next year and does replace Tsunoda and spends the whole year finishing between ninth and 15th, then it’s another driver that’s gone in and basically can barely score points in that car.

“So re-appraising Perez, I still think it’s unfair that Liam Lawson didn’t get more than two race weekends as a Red Bull driver and then actually judging a Tsunoda season. I don’t think it’s been good, but I can’t tell whether it’s been all right in the circumstances or an absolute disaster because you look at the pure results, and it’s a disaster in terms of the results. It’s a disastrous season, but it isn’t.

“The flashes, the fact that he’s got closer at times as a Verstappen teammate over one lap than anyone since Daniel Ricciardo, a couple of tracks, certainly Spa, for example, those are good things.

“So it’s really hard to unpick, but I personally don’t think he’ll be there next year. I just don’t think he’s done enough for what he had to do.”

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

Yuki Tsunoda’s race starts proving to be a critical issue for Red Bull this season

As Mitchell-Malm suggests, Tsunoda isn’t suffering in qualifying as much as some of Verstappen’s previous teammates.

He’s closer to the four-time world champion than Lawson and Perez in terms of raw speed, but the closeness of the current grid and Red Bull’s slight drop off compared to 2023 means he’s not seeing the benefit of his superior one-lap pace.

On top of this, Tsunoda loses more positions on the first lap of races than any other driver on the grid.

This means that he’s immediately playing catch-up after typically falling out of qualifying before the top 10 shootout.

Red Bull were pleased with Tsunoda at the Singapore Grand Prix despite qualifying 15th and falling to P18 on the opening lap.

His race pace improved considerably from previous races, but the damage was already done by the time he got up to speed.

It’s becoming more and more difficult to justify retaining Tsunoda alongside Verstappen next season, and after five seasons in F1, does moving the 25-year-old to Racing Bulls benefit Red Bull in any way if he’s potentially blocking the progress of a young driver like Lindblad?