Yuki Tsunoda enjoyed his best result of his Red Bull career at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, finishing sixth behind his main rival for a 2026 F1 seat, Liam Lawson.
The result was highly encouraging for the Japanese driver, whose position on the F1 grid has been in question since his step up from Racing Bulls to the front-running Red Bull team materialised in April.
The result saw him leapfrog his way past Oliver Bearman and Gabriel Bortoleto in the F1 standings, where he now sits 17th with 20 points to his name.
Helmut Marko was ‘very smiley’ with Tsunoda after the chequered flag, believing that the 25-year-old has now figured out how to rein in the difficult-to-drive RB21 and optimise the results on track.
Tsunoda reportedly put a lot of time into simulator work between the rounds at Monza and Baku, which proved to have paid off massively throughout the weekend in Azerbaijan.
Helmut Marko doesn’t expect Yuki Tsunoda to be on the same ‘level’ as Max Verstappen
Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies is ‘apprehensive’ of letting Tsunoda go from the team and is instead trying everything in his power to get the Japanese driver back to the fine form he produced at Racing Bulls, which earned him the spot at Red Bull in the first place.
Speaking on a recent episode of Formel Schmidt, journalist Michael Schmidt revealed what Red Bull have been doing behind the scenes to aid Tsunoda, and touched upon the expectations that Marko has for the drivers who occupy the seat next to their star driver, Max Verstappen.
Prompted by the question of what Red Bull did differently at Baku with Tsunoda, Schmidt answered, “They now do more coaching, as is typical at Toro Rosso [now Racing Bulls]. Both young drivers are guided on details like tyre temperatures, what to do, and what to watch for.
“They aren’t told every move, drivers still have autonomy, but small coaching tips help, and Tsunoda apparently benefits from it because that’s how he was trained at Toro Rosso. At Red Bull, he had missed that guidance. Max Verstappen, of course, doesn’t need coaching.
“Marko said with a smile that at Red Bull, only Max gets that level of expectation, and everyone else is not expected to be at his level.
“They also adjusted Tsunoda’s setup slightly so it suits him better and is less critical. This is a clear sign that the Red Bull is improving; the car is now a bit easier to drive.”
Yuki Tsunoda will be hoping to build on his Baku form to cement his F1 seat for 2026
Before the eight points he added to his tally in Baku, Tsunoda had only managed to secure nine points with Red Bull since taking over from Lawson.
With Verstappen claiming 194 in the same amount of time, the 25-year-old’s future in the sport was thrown into question.
| Position | Driver | Points |
| 3 | Max Verstappen | 255 |
| 9 | Isack Hadjar | 39 |
| 13 | Liam Lawson | 30 |
| 17 | Yuki Tsunoda | 20 |
Isack Hadjar is the latest Red Bull-backed driver to impress in F1, and he looks like the most likely option to pair with Verstappen at the Austrian constructor for F1’s new era of regulations in 2026.
This would mean a demotion back to the Faenza-based outfit for Tsunoda, or there’s the more drastic option, which would see him leave the F1 grid entirely.
Ted Kravitz believes Racing Bulls is the more probable option, but Marko is rumoured to have made up his mind on promoting F2 star Arvid Lindblad to the seat instead.
If Tsunoda is successful in continuing to build on the form he showed in Azerbaijan, he could turn the tide back in his own favour and cement his spot on the F1 grid for at least another season.