‘F1 is my life’ – Tsunoda reacts to Red Bull’s driver decision and admits he has not yet processed losing his seat
Yuki Tsunoda has given his first full reaction to the news that he will drop off the F1 grid in 2026, admitting it is “tough” to take but he is also yet to fully process the situation.
Shortly after the Qatar Grand Prix weekend, Red Bull announced that Isack Hadjar is taking Tsunoda’s place next season, while F2 racer Arvid Lindblad is stepping up to partner Liam Lawson at Racing Bulls.
Tsunoda, meanwhile, has been demoted to a test and reserve role for both Red Bull and Racing Bulls, meaning he falls off the grid some five years after his debut with the then-named AlphaTauri squad.
Asked when he found out he would not be continuing with Red Bull, Tsunoda said: “I heard after the race in Qatar. Obviously, I was disappointed. It’s tough.
“At the same time, I’m not fully recognising or fully feeling it yet that I’m not racing next year. It’s surprising that I was kind of okay the next morning – I was thinking about Abu Dhabi. It’s not ideal.
“What I’ve got to do here is exactly the same, what I was trying to do in Qatar. It’s to be competitive as much as possible and ideally help Max [Verstappen] and finish as high as possible for myself and the team.”
Tsunoda started 2025 at Racing Bulls, having been overlooked for a Red Bull seat during the winter, but he finally got his chance at the senior team in a swap with Liam Lawson two rounds into the campaign.
However, the struggles Lawson and a long list of previous Red Bull drivers experienced alongside Verstappen were also seemingly felt by Tsunoda, who has endured a spate of early Qualifying exits and had to settle for occasional minor points.
“I’m not saying I don’t have regret at all,” said Tsunoda, pondering his early-season promotion. “I’m missing the Racing Bulls car, which part of the car I developed since the regulations started. Some DNA is in there and you throw out your baby. So, I missed that and kind of regret that.
“At the same time, I don’t mostly regret it. I kind of understand it why this seat is a little bit difficult, but at the same time I think, towards the end especially, the team gave me a lot of support.
“I think at the last few races, it looks like I’m struggling, because sometimes I was exiting Q1. If you look at the result, it’s a lot different, but I see consistently the difference between me and Max. I can’t remember the last time I was four-and-a-half tenths back.
“I’m pretty happy with it. I jumped in in the middle of the season, he drove this car for four years, and being this close is something [of a] different situation to a lot of drivers who were driving [here] before.”
As for what the future might hold alongside or beyond his F1 test and reserve duties, Tsunoda said: “I leave it to my manager and I only think about Abu Dhabi. Let’s see how it goes with the race.
“It will be a new experience for me. The last few years I’ve been racing. I will miss [it], for sure, but I think at the same time I can see a lot of new perspectives being inside both teams, learning a lot of things I never even imagined.
“Let’s be positive. I’m just thinking about Abu Dhabi, and let’s think about the future afterwards.”
Pushed on whether a move to a series such as IndyCar could be an option, he said: “F1 is my life. It’s too early stages [to think about anything else].
“For now, the only motivation I have is F1. I’m not really thinking about that competition for now, but I’ll do as much as I can with any opportunity to make myself sharp.”
