Why Yuki Tsunoda is unlikely to get the same second chance at Racing Bulls as Daniel Ricciardo

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Red Bull driver Yuki Tsunoda is in real danger of falling off the Formula 1 grid at the end of this season.

Yuki Tsunoda spent four years at Red Bull’s sister team, currently known as Racing Bulls, preparing for a promotion alongside Max Verstappen.

Christian Horner decided last season to promote Liam Lawson over Tsunoda, only for that decision to be reversed after just two races.

Liam Lawson’s form has slowly recovered as Red Bull’s sister team this year, while Tsunoda has endured a very difficult campaign.

Two seventh-place finishes at the United States Grand Prix represent two of Tsunoda’s best results since his promotion, but both Lawson and Isack Hadjar have recorded better finishes than the Japanese driver despite racing for a weaker team.

Helmut Marko has suggested the Mexico City Grand Prix will be when Red Bull’s driver line-ups will be decided, leaving Tsunoda with potentially one more race to secure a seat on the grid next year.

Hadjar is looking like Tsunoda’s likely replacement at Red Bull, leaving the 25-year-old battling to return to his old team.

Journalist Mark Hughes has explained why Tsunoda is unlikely to be offered that second chance in the same way that Daniel Ricciardo was back in 2023.

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

Yuki Tsunoda unlikely to be handed Racing Bulls second chance like Daniel Ricciardo

Hughes was asked on The Race F1 Podcast about Tsunoda’s future and whether he will survive within the Red Bull family for 2026, and he said: “Yeah, I can’t see it.

“We’ve seen in the past drivers returning to the junior team, and the most recent example being Daniel Ricciardo.

“But, that was more from the Christian Horner side. That’s what he wanted to see.

“I think with Marko more fully in charge of these things, I don’t think you’re going to get a third opportunity.

“He’s had a good couple of cracks at it. I don’t think Marko’s going to give him another one.”

His colleague Edd Straw added: “I think the disproportionate fury that he showed with other drivers having the temerity to exist on the same track, which was pretty much what his concerns were in qualifying, was based on, as far as I could tell, a little bit worrying.

“It suggests it’s manifesting itself in a little bit of misplaced fury. Let’s put it that way.”

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How Laurent Mekies could influence Yuki Tsunoda’s F1 career like Christian Horner backed Daniel Ricciardo

Ricciardo impressed Christian Horner in a private test in 2023 and ended up replacing Nyck de Vries at AlphaTauri as a result.

However, it became clear in 2024 that while Sergio Perez was struggling alongside Verstappen, Ricciardo wasn’t the answer to the second driver situation at Red Bull.

Current Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies is a big fan of Tsunoda, having worked together at Racing Bulls.

If Laurent Mekies truly believes that Tsunoda has a place in Formula 1, he needs to try and emulate the influence that Horner had over Ricciardo’s future.

Otherwise, it might be time for Tsunoda to move on and let the next generation of Red Bull stars try and prove they have what it takes to follow in Verstappen’s footsteps.