Red Bull could still inflict one last blow on Yuki Tsunoda amid negotiations with Honda

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Yuki Tsunoda will be disappointed to have been left without a seat on the 2026 Formula 1 grid, but his performances just didn’t merit an extension.

Red Bull had already realised this when it came to negotiations last year, and opted to promote Isack Hadjar to his role instead.

The consequence is that Tsunoda becomes their test and reserve driver heading into the 2026 F1 regulations, which is handy for his team. He does have a lot of experience now.

However, his role is now going to involve a lot more simulator work than it did before, while his on-track action is going to be limited. It could be a frustrating year.

Where did you expect Yuki Tsunoda to finish when he joined Red Bull?

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Juan Pablo Montoya says Tsunoda has been forgotten already, just over one month from his last race. Nobody quite knows if he’ll ever return to the grid.

He hasn’t given up yet, though, with Tsunoda targeting Haas and Alpine for a 2027 comeback. Who knows whether they’ll be competitive by then?

READ MORE: Liam Lawson received surprise help from Yuki Tsunoda before bagging his best F1 result

Red Bull are in negotiations with Honda to decide how much they can use him in 2026

Alex Albon made a ‘very sad’ Tsunoda prediction before the start of the 2025 campaign, and believed that he would finally get his first podium.

That was before he got promoted to Red Bull, where the car, which hasn’t suited anyone apart from Max Verstappen, really didn’t suit his style either.

Although he’s theoretically the next man in line to be called up if anything pops up, it’s unlikely that he’ll do more than drive in the odd practice session this year.

With that in mind, Honda, who have backed him for some time, will want to be putting him on track as much as possible.

But to free some time up, they must first negotiate with Red Bull about how much they are willing to part with him in 2026, according to the Spanish edition of Motorsport.com.

It’s a complicated situation, but if Red Bull refuse to let go of him that often, it could hurt his hopes of returning to the grid, and prevent him from staying racing fresh.

READ MORE: Yuki Tsunoda says ‘there’s a chance’ he won’t just be a reserve driver next year

Why moving to Red Bull was the worst thing Yuki Tsunoda could have done in 2025

Looking back, Tsunoda’s move to Red Bull was hardly ever going to benefit him. He was totally unprepared for the gig.

If they really wanted him in the cockpit, they’d have picked him over Liam Lawson just a few months prior.

At least that would have given him the chance to spend the winter preparing properly to be the teammate of someone like Verstappen.

Instead, he rocked up and was expected to be quick from day one, and just never adjusted to the RB21. Just like it made Sergio Perez and Lawson look bad, it undermined his talents too.