Red Bull engineer admits one Helmut Marko victim should still be on the F1 grid

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Helmut Marko gained a reputation for being F1’s most ruthless manager during his time at Red Bull.

His final year at the team epitomised his approach. While Marko wasn’t the only one making the driver decisions, he was influential, particularly after Christian Horner was sacked in July.

In the autumn of 2024, Red Bull dropped Daniel Ricciardo, a seven-time Grand Prix winner in their colours, from the Racing Bulls line-up in favour of Liam Lawson. At the end of the season, Lawson was called up to the top team following the termination of Sergio Perez’s contract.

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The New Zealander would last just two races before he was demoted, with 2021 debutant Yuki Tsunoda finally getting his chance. Tsunoda was given 22 Grands Prix but very rarely looked convincing.

Marko turned to Isack Hadjar, who had emerged as F1’s hottest young talent. Rather than giving Tsunoda a soft landing at Racing Bulls, he promoted Arvid Lindblad from Formula 2.

Richard Wood says Yuki Tsunoda has the ‘talent’ to be in F1

Few in F1 are better-placed to comment on the second-driver crisis at Red Bull than Richard Wood. In the last two years, Wood has been the race engineer to Perez, Lawson and Tsunoda.

Speaking to AS-Web, Wood said Tsunoda had been ‘unlucky’. The 25-year-old ended the year 17th in the championship on 33 points.

But despite his poor results, he was ‘loved by everyone in the team’. On pure ‘talent’, Wood says Tsunoda deserves to be in F1.

He remains within the Red Bull set-up for 2026 in a reserve driver role.

“The good thing about Yuki is that he has a pure nature that allows him to say good things are good and bad things are bad,” Wood said. “Sometimes those words were very harsh, but I understand that this is because he never slacked off and always gave it his all, no matter the situation.

“I loved that attitude of his. He was unlucky in many races, and there were many where the results were not what he wanted. It’s a shame because he could have achieved much better results.”

“Yuki was a very nice guy and was loved by everyone in the team. I know he has the talent to stay on the grid and I hope that one day he will race in F1 again.”

Which F1 teams could Yuki Tsunoda join for the 2027 season?

Ted Kravitz is concerned that Tsunoda won’t return to F1. His links to Honda kept him secure at Red Bull, but now the team are building their own engines.

Honda are now supplying Aston Martin, but there’s only one seat realistically available given that Lance Stroll’s father, Lawrence, owns the team.

Aston Martin want to sign Max Verstappen, or another A-list driver, after two-time world champion Fernando Alonso retires.

Instead, Tsunoda is targeting Alpine and Haas, two teams he expects to have vacancies in the 2027 driver market.