Laurent Mekies now ‘almost begging’ Yuki Tsunoda to do one thing amid Red Bull future uncertainty

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Yuki Tsunoda is running out of time to secure his Formula 1 future, let alone with Red Bull, beyond 2025.

The Japanese driver joined the senior Red Bull team after Liam Lawson’s demotion at Suzuka. But like many of Max Verstappen’s teammates in the past, Tsunoda has struggled to adapt to the car.

New team principal Laurent Mekies has helped slightly improve the 25-year-old’s form, with P6 in Baku and P7 in the United States Grand Prix. But with just 25 points from 17 races with Red Bull, Tsunoda is under pressure to keep his seat.

Isack Hadjar is tipped to join Red Bull in 2026, leaving the Japanese driver out of a seat. A return to Racing Bulls has not been ruled out, with Lawson and F2 star Arvid Lindblad also in the running.

Tsunoda has growing ‘beef’ with Lawson after the pair came to blows in Austin. A potential reunion at Racing Bulls may be out of the question with their current relationship, but Mekies is desperate to see Tsunoda improve.

Laurent Mekies is ‘almost begging’ Yuki Tsunoda to give him a reason to keep him at Red Bull in 2026

Helmut Marko has stated that Red Bull will decide their driver line-up for 2026 after the Mexico City GP this weekend. Tsunoda is under immense pressure to keep his seat, but his recent results may keep him in the running.

COTA was an encouraging race, and Mekies wants to see more of that. Journalist Nate Saunders says the Red Bull boss is ‘almost begging’ his driver to keep the momentum and give the team a reason to keep him for next season.

“Because you do feel that Laurent Mekies is almost begging Yuki to do that,” he said via Unlapped.

“It was a bit like with Perez last year, you felt from all this whole stretch down the line they’re like: ‘Come on Checo, give us one reason to keep you, a result we can point out and say there’s why we’re keeping him’.

“I still think at Red Bull they know, as good as Hadjar’s been, the same old question applies: you put anyone against Max Verstappen and you could just ruin them long term.

“I mean Liam Lawson hasn’t done terribly since he went back. So I don’t know, I think that’s why it’s such a tough decision and I’m not even convinced… Mexico seemed like quite a strange point in the calendar for them to decide.

“Because they could go all the way to the end of the year if they wanted to, which is what they did with Lawson and Perez.

“So I wouldn’t be surprised, if Yuki has a strong weekend there, they just say: ‘Alright, we’re going to give it a few more races’, because why rush the decision?”

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What are Yuki Tsunoda’s chances of staying in Formula 1 in 2026 after the United States Grand Prix?

It is possible that Red Bull could delay their decision on 2026 further if Tsunoda can have a strong weekend in Mexico. But it only heightens the pressure on him to deliver, with Hadjar waiting to replace him.

Daniel Ricciardo praised Tsunoda for his performance at COTA as he made his way through the field in the opening laps. A stronger result might have been possible had he made it into Q3.

Qualifying has been a major problem for the Japanese driver, only managing 13th in Austin. He has struggled to extract the maximum from the car over one lap.

Marko says Tsunoda’s fate will be decided after Mexico, highlighting the necessity to be on the ball in every session. But the decision may already have been made, with Ted Kravitz saying even ‘pub’ F1 fans know Tsunoda will lose his seat.