Red Bull bids farewell to Tsunoda, Verstappen to get new teammate

14:37, 15 Jul

Updated: 20:55, 17 Jul

byLudo van Denderen

Red Bull Racing is saying goodbye to Yuki Tsunoda. Max Verstappen is therefore getting a new teammate at the Austrian team, given that he stays, of course.

For weeks, there has been considerable speculation about Max Verstappen's future at Red Bull Racing. Whether the Dutchman stays or not, it's equally unclear who will take the second seat at the Austrian team in 2026. Yuki Tsunoda's contract will be terminated, according to this website's multiple sources. Incidentally, Red Bull Racing denied this in a statement to this website.

Yuki Tsunoda was promoted from Racing Bulls to the main team by Red Bull after just two Grands Prix into the season, hoping that the Japanese driver would perform better than the disappointing Liam Lawson. Ten Grands Prix later, the conclusion is that this has not happened. A ninth and twice tenth place, the rest of the time Tsunoda finished outside the points.

The experiment with Tsunoda is therefore coming to an end after the season. For the current and what's been a disappointing year for Red Bull Racing, he is allowed to stay. For Tsunoda, this cannot come as a surprise.

Yuki Tsunoda is in his final months at Red Bull Racing

Tsunoda heading to Aston Martin?

GPblog understands that it is an option for Tsunoda to move to Aston Martin in the wake of Honda becoming the team's power unit manufacturer, where the Japanese driver would then start as a test and reserve driver. This is not an illogical step, as Tsunoda has been linked to Honda for years. For instance, the Japanese manufacturer made a financial contribution to get Tsunoda to Red Bull Racing.

Earlier, there was also speculation about a seat at Cadillac, but that team seems to be looking at men like Sergio Perez, Valtteri Bottas, and Mick Schumacher for now. Further down the grid, there seem to be few options for Tsunoda, who is currently in his sixth and possibly last season in Formula 1.