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Yuki Tsunoda is at risk of dropping off the Formula 1 grid and leaving Japan without a driver yet again after struggling in 2025.
The Red Bull driver is devastatingly 18th in the drivers’ championship and has failed to deliver any consistency for his team.
It now feels inevitable that Tsunoda will not have his one-year deal with the Milton Keynes-based outfit renewed for the future.
Heading into the 2026 F1 regulations, it’s now about proving to some of the other teams on the grid that he deserves to be racing among the 20 best drivers in the world.
Max Verstappen could inflict an embarrassing stat on Tsunoda when racing returns at the end of August for the Dutch Grand Prix.
If Red Bull drop Tsunoda next season, then their next biggest problem is going to be finding a replacement for him, given that so many have failed in the second seat.
Yuki Tsunoda must improve after matching David Coulthard’s Red Bull summer break points record
Tsunoda was called out for a ‘futile’ excuse at the final race before the summer break, after suggesting that front wing damage ruined his Hungarian Grand Prix.
The four-week stoppage couldn’t have arrived at a much better time for him, as one of the drivers who needs a reset more than others.
Laurent Mekies has told Tsunoda what to do if he wants to stand a chance of remaining with Red Bull into 2026.
It all starts with scoring points, which he hasn’t done enough of. This year, he’s the first driver since David Coulthard in 2008 [6] to have 10 or fewer points in a Red Bull car at the summer break.
That was before the team turned themselves into perennial winners and regular title contenders. Their dynasty is being challenged more than ever currently.
Has Yuki Tsunoda done enough to prove that he deserves to stay in Formula 1?
Currently, there’s one statistic that proves that Tsunoda does deserve a second chance in 2026, despite his Red Bull struggles.
With 101 points in 101 career starts, since 2021, he has, on average, scored one point at every single race he has ever contested.
That’s a 10th place, or the 10th best driver on the grid every time he turns up. If he’s one of the top 10 in the world and has been in a car which has struggled to be better than that at times, he deserves another crack.
Tsunoda’s agent ‘grinned’ at him joining one team, but it would be a lot of work to start fresh with someone like Cadillac, who are new to the sport.
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