What Red Bull ‘head honchos’ are saying about Yuki Tsunoda’s future after unseen Mexico ‘masterstroke’

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Red Bull Racing are yet to announce who will be Max Verstappen’s teammate for the 2026 Formula 1 season.

However, the current incumbent, Yuki Tsunoda, will be pleased to hear that Red Bull aren’t about to make an immediate announcement.

No two teammates have a bigger points deficit in the drivers’ championship than Tsunoda and Max Verstappen.

Verstappen is still in contention to win the championship, and Red Bull have cited this as the reason why they haven’t decided on their 2026 line-ups.

Meanwhile, only three active drivers, Pierre Gasly, Gabriel Bortoleto and Franco Colapinto, have scored fewer points than Tsunoda.

It’s believed that team principal Laurent Mekies disagrees with Helmut Marko over Tsunoda’s future, with the former Racing Bulls chief a big fan of the 25-year-old from their previous time working together.

Aston Martin have announced Jak Crawford as their reserve driver for 2026, shutting off an outside option for Tsunoda that might have opened up due to his connections with Honda.

Journalist Matt Majendie has now shared what he discovered in the Mexico City Grand Prix paddock about Tsunoda’s future and the touching gesture from the Japanese driver in the build-up to the race.

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

Red Bull ‘head honchos’ yet to decide Yuki Tsunoda’s future after pre-race Mexican Grand Prix dinner

Majendie was speaking about Tsunoda’s P11 in Mexico on The Inside Track Podcast and said: “I think they were very pleased with his pace. Really pleased, it’s as close to Max as he’s been.

“In the race, he was looking great at one point; he was up to fourth, but it was really more like eighth.

“He was very unlucky with a pit stop that just went horribly wrong with the rear jack, and it cost him a lot of time.

“But I was talking to some people, and they weren’t convinced he necessarily, definitely would have finished in the points without it.

“I spoke to both Laurent and Helmut Marko, and both were saying that, actually, they’re going to put that off. And their reasoning for that is they want their headspace entirely on the championship battle.

“On Thursday night, Yuki took out the whole team and paid for them for dinner. So I don’t know if he was trying to play a little masterstroke to keep his seat, but everyone seemed very happy with the dinner. A Japanese fusion restaurant, I believe, in Mexico.”

“If you ask the head honchos, they say genuinely a decision hasn’t been made.

“The general consensus is that Isack Hadjar gets that seat, and now that Yuki moves to Racing Bulls, Liam makes way. That’s where it is for now.

“But if you ask them, they genuinely stress they haven’t made that call. So, we’ll see in the next couple of races what they decide.”

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Yuki Tsunoda must match his best-ever Formula 1 result to convince Red Bull to retain him

Tsunoda is one of the five drivers currently on the grid who have yet to finish on the podium in Formula 1.

Rookies Liam Lawson, Franco Colapinto, Gabriel Bortoleto and Oliver Bearman are the only other drivers yet to achieve this feat, with Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Nico Hulkenberg and Isack Hadjar all recording top-three finishes earlier this season.

The Japanese driver’s best-ever result is fourth, recorded at the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix during his debut season.

Unsurprisingly, another event at that race distracted from Tsunoda’s achievement, but considering his best result since his Red Bull promotion is a P6 in Baku, he needs to rediscover his best form to avoid being dropped.

Hadjar is being lined up to replace Tsunoda, but if nothing is decided yet, then the 25-year-old still has time to put in a couple of performances that could win Verstappen a fifth consecutive championship and earn him one more year on the grid.