How Racing Bulls staff feel about working with Yuki Tsunoda as Red Bull consider 2026 reunion

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Yuki Tsunoda and Liam Lawson are set to go head-to-head for what could be the final available seat on the Formula 1 grid in 2026.

Nine out of the 11 F1 teams in the paddock next season have already confirmed their full line-ups, with only Red Bull and Racing Bulls yet to announce both of their drivers.

Max Verstappen will spend another year at Red Bull, but the identity of his teammate is still unknown.

Isack Hadjar is the frontrunner to join Verstappen in 2026, and there’s a good chance that Arvid Lindblad will join Racing Bulls from Formula 2.

This leaves Yuki Tsunoda and Liam Lawson to battle it out for a Racing Bulls seat alongside the British teenager.

Tsunoda spent four years at Racing Bulls under the team’s various guises, and journalist Ben Anderson has shared how Alan Permane’s outfit feel about working with the Japanese driver.

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

How Racing Bulls staff feel about working with Yuki Tsunoda

Tsunoda has been linked with a return to Racing Bulls, which would almost certainly leave Lawson as the driver falling out of Formula 1 ahead of next season.

On The Race F1 Podcast, Anderson explained: “I don’t think they want to keep him [Tsunoda] over Isack Hadjar. I think pretty much that’s a lock that he gets promoted.

“Not only because he’s had an impressive rookie season, but also because even from the very start of that season, he was outqualifying Tsunoda in the same team.

“On the Tsunoda side, him versus Lawson, they’ve both had similar experiences of going into Red Bull. Obviously, Tsunoda’s has been a much more drawn-out affair of going in there and getting chewed up and spat out by the Verstappen one-car super team.

“Laurent Mekies has seen Tsunoda at his best in the junior team; they won’t see this as what Tsunoda can really do.

“Although Lawson’s had a decent run since going back into Racing Bulls and had one or two good races versus Hadjar, I wouldn’t say he’s outperformed Hadjar.

“If you’re comparing Lawson and Tsunoda, it really comes down to which driver do you think is the better fit in terms of that team’s environment? Which driver do you think will be the best benchmark in terms of who we bring in next from outside of F1 and helping them develop?

“I would say it’s probably a fairly close call on performance, but I would probably give it to Tsunoda just because Racing Bulls really liked him, nobody has ever had a bad word to say about his character and how he fits with the team and how he communicates with the team.

“Neither of them is going back into the Red Bull team if and when Tsunoda is demoted.”

READ MORE: All to know about Racing Bulls from team principal to Red Bull affiliation

Laurent Mekies struggling to make a decision on Yuki Tsunoda leaving Liam Lawson in the lurch

Two of the people who will have a considerable say in Tsunoda and Lawson’s futures are Laurent Mekies and Helmut Marko.

Marko has recently compared Hadjar to Ayrton Senna, highlighting how excited he is about the young Frenchman.

Lawson’s been told he’s too inconsistent by Marko, and that might give Tsunoda a small advantage over the New Zealander when trying to keep his seat.

The issue for Tsunoda is that he’s simply unable to get close enough to Verstappen to justify his position at Red Bull.

He’s currently 17th in the drivers’ championship and has played no part in Verstappen’s quest to win a fifth title.

However, Mekies is really struggling to drop Tsunoda, and that could be the final blow for Lawson, particularly as it sounds like the 25-year-old would be welcomed back to Racing Bulls next year if he were demoted.