Red Bull staff are now learning why Christian Horner was ‘quite negative’ about signing Yuki Tsunoda

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Yuki Tsunoda was never a favourite for a Red Bull seat, and when he was afforded his chance in 2025, the team’s decision is being vindicated.

The Japanese driver was in the running for a promotion from Racing Bulls after Red Bull sacked Sergio Perez at the end of 2024. Tsunoda had five years of experience under his belt in F1 and had the backing of Honda, but it was Liam Lawson who would get the seat.

Then-team principal Christian Horner felt Lawson had a higher ceiling than Tsunoda, a comment that would backfire dramatically. Lawson was demoted back to Racing Bulls after just two races, having failed to get out of Q1 and score points.

Tsunoda took his place from the Japanese GP onwards and has since struggled to get to grips with the RB21. He has scored 25 points since his promotion and sits 17th in the drivers’ championship.

Of course, being Max Verstappen’s teammate has proven to be damaging for any driver since 2018, and Tsunoda is the latest to struggle in the car. But his season also proves why Horner was never keen on promoting him to Red Bull in the first place.

Red Bull have ‘always’ been ‘quite negative’ about Yuki Tsunoda behind the scenes

Speaking via the Telegraaf Formule 1-podcast, journalist Erik van Haren says he has ‘always’ heard ‘negative stories’ about Tsunoda behind the scenes, regarding his technical feedback and racecraft.

It would appear, therefore, that the team are starting to realise why Horner had little interest in promoting the 25-year-old from the so-called junior team.

“OK, but look, Tsunoda has done pretty well at Racing Bulls. But you know yourself that teams don’t just look at the hype of the day, at least, I assume so,” said van Haren.

“So they also look behind the scenes. What is your feedback to engineers? How is your racing craft? Name all those kinds of things. And yes, I’ve always heard quite negative stories about that.

“So in that context, and Christian Horner was still in service. Yes, I always understood that Christian Horner was not at all keen on Tsunoda.

“So for me it was no surprise at all that Tsunoda didn’t get that seat. It was a surprise that after two races he did get in instead of Lawson, because Lawson just fell through the cracks.”

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

How Honda plan to save Yuki Tsunoda’s F1 career

With three races remaining in 2025, Tsunoda is running out of time to save his F1 career. There are three seats available at Red Bull and Racing Bulls, and he is in contention with Isack Hadjar, Lawson and Arvid Lindblad.

The general feeling is that Hadjar will join Red Bull and Tsunoda will make way, with Lindblad joining Lawson at the Faenza team. However, sports boss Oliver Mintzlaff could intervene in Red Bull’s decision, as he needs to approve Laurent Mekies and Helmut Marko’s choice.

But the future does not look good for Tsunoda, given his poor results in 2025. Mekies and Marko agree on Tsunoda’s display in Sao Paulo, with the former saying he cannot ‘hide’ from his exit in SQ1 – he was also eliminated in Q1 on Saturday.

The Japanese driver and his backers are doing everything they can to keep him on the grid. Honda’s boss will speak to Red Bull ahead of their final decision on 2026 – it could be the deciding factor.