Why some senior Red Bull engineers have doubts about promoting Yuki Tsunoda next season

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The debate over who is going to be racing for Red Bull at the beginning of the 2025 season is likely to continue over the coming weeks and months.

As Daniel Ricciardo’s exit from the RB team after the Singapore Grand Prix proves, the length of a Red Bull contract is less important than the clauses inserted into it.

Sergio Perez knows clauses in his contract mean he could lose his seat at the end of the season, although the team are currently reluctant to make that swap.

Red Bull had the opportunity to do so during the summer break but stuck by their driver despite failing to come close to matching Max Verstappen’s level of performance.

RB now have two drivers who are essentially in a six-race shootout to potentially replace the Mexican in 2025.

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Liam Lawson’s promotion was on the cards for some time, but he doesn’t currently have a deal guaranteeing him a seat with either team for next year.

Yuki Tsunoda has an RB contract for 2025, however, Marko recently said Tsunoda is a candidate for a Red Bull promotion.

Journalist Scott Mitchell-Malm was speaking on The Race’s YouTube channel and shared what he had heard about how others within the Red Bull team felt about the move.

Even during his fourth season with the team, Red Bull still don’t completely agree about Tsunoda’s ultimate potential and where his long-term future lies.

How senior Red Bull engineers and Christian Horner feel about promoting Yuki Tsunoda

Explaining why Red Bull seem so opposed to promoting Tsunoda, Mitchell-Malm said: “Yeah, it’s probably the most asked Tsunoda question at any given moment.

“It’s not Red Bull as a whole, but there is a bit of a division.

“I think Marko is quite keen on trying Tsunoda in Red Bull Racing, but I think Horner and some others, maybe some in the senior engineering team, I’m not sure, they’re concerned about whether he has that kind of whole package element.

READ MORE: Visa Cash App RB driver Yuki Tsunoda’s life outside F1 from height to parents

“Given the test of not just leading Red Bull Racing or being at the front in Red Bull, it’s being alongside Verstappen as well, whether Tsunoda would handle that problem.

“I kind of feel like that’s a bit of a cop-out given the Red Bull mentality of old was even as of recently as Pierre Gasly and Alex Albon was just throw them in and see if it works.

“Now, it can burn a driver, but Tsunoda’s got a lot more experience than those last attempted Red Bull junior promotions had. I think it’s worth doing, but they clearly won’t.”

Why Yuki Tsunoda is expected to leave RB at the end of the 2025 season

The RB team in its various forms and guises has always been designed to give Red Bull’s most talented young drivers their first taste of action in F1.

Some drivers – such as Verstappen and Alex Albon – were quickly promoted into the senior team, although this often was out of necessity as well as because of their talent.

For Red Bull to delay Tsunoda’s promotion for so long is a worrying sign for the Japanese driver.

Tsunoda could leave RB at the end of 2025 and like Pierre Gasly and Carlos Sainz before him, forge a decent F1 career away from the team.

He can’t wait for his opportunity forever, especially if Lawson ends up getting the nod ahead of him this winter.