Yuki Tsunoda claims he got offers from rival teams to ditch Red Bull family in 2025
Yuki Tsunoda has been a part of the Red Bull family since his debut in F1 and has remained loyal to them.
Follow Us
Yuki Tsunoda(via IMAGO)
Yuki Tsunoda was seen as a mediocre driver in the paddock when the Japanese driver made his debut (2021). In stark contrast, this year the 24-year-old has taken up the leadership role at Red Bull‘s sister outfit, VCARB, and has scored twice the points in comparison to his much more senior teammate. This led him to become a lucrative option in the driver’s market as the VCARB driver revealed he had been contacted by rival teams to leave the Faenza-based outfit.
Daniel Ricciardo was soaring the headlines when Sergio Perez‘s inability to score massive points amplified. The Aussie was slated to join Red Bull post-summer break, but this possibility did not come to fruition. Meanwhile, in the background, Yuki Tsunoda had been scoring the team’s majority of the points and had the upper hand in the intra-team rivalry at VCARB.
On the other hand, he was also a free agent for 2025, as he had not signed a contract extension with Red Bull earlier this season. Subsequently, Tsunoda revealed that rival teams tried to swoop him away from the Red Bull family in an interesting turn of events.
I started to probably show my value this year, from the beginning of the season. Before I signed my contract with VCARB, fortunately, a couple of teams reached [out] to me. I never had that in the last two years, especially the first two years. So you just need to consistently keep delivering the results. So far, I’m able to achieve that – but it’s kind of the first year I’m showing good results consistently. I know a lot of things I can improve, and still a lot of things to come from myself.Yuki Tsunoda said in an interview as quoted by LWOS
The Japanese driver explained that this happened for the first time in his career as he had been out of the radar for other teams previously. However, he stepped up his game this year, which warranted him to be a force to be reckoned with. Tsunoda later signed with VCARB for the 2025 season after evaluating his options.
Yuki Tsunoda hopes for better races in Azerbaijan and Singapore
Despite becoming a target for multiple teams, Red Bull apparently did not consider the Japanese driver due to his attitude over the team radio. To prove such claims wrong, Tsunoda set out on a mission to demonstrate his worth to the grid.
However, he has had some torrid weekends recently, though not being entirely his fault.
Unfortunately, we had to retire the car as we got some damage on the floor. I felt it straight away and tried to continue, but the car was sliding around and I simply wasn’t able to drive it. We have Baku and Singapore next, our car should perform well there, so hopefully we’ll have good weekends ahead.Yuki Tsunoda said in the press release by VCARB
The 24-year-old elaborated on how the race at Monza got ruined by his collision with Nico Hulkenberg. This led his race to go in the trash but reckoned that the VCARB01 would perform better around Baku and Marina Bay and hoped for a better race in the upcoming double-header.
On the other hand, the fight for the second seat at Red Bull might have stalled a bit as the Austrian giant has run into problems with the RB20. Thus, they would be hoping to resolve the issues before moving on to deciding who would be in the second Red Bull seat alongside Max Verstappen for 2025.
In case you missed it:
- Carlos Sainz breaks down ‘once in a lifetime’ Ferrari opportunity ahead of Lewis Hamilton’ arrival
- Nico Rosberg backs Ferrari for ‘outside shot’ at winning the 2024 title
Stay Updated!
Geetansh Pasricha
(741 Articles Published)