Sergio Perez has been underperforming for over a year now. Despite a good start, Perez struggled to keep up with top guns and sits at a mediocre 8th at the drivers standings. His performances have cost Red Bull p1 in Constructors and left the outfit in a vulnerable position. Right from the beginning, there had been talks of him getting replaced by Daniel Riccardo, Carlos Sainz, Liam Lawson, and Yuki Tsunoda. Amid speculations, Perez was re-signed along with purported performance clauses in his contract. Now Honda Racing President Koji Watanabe urged Red Bull to replace Perez with its Japanese protege Yuki Tsunoda.
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As a part of the engine deal with Honda, Red Bull groomed Yuki Tsunoda under its junior programme. Tsunoda was given a seat at the sister team Visa Cash App RB (then Alpha Tauri) in 2021. The Japanese driver surely showed his potential though he never got to test with the Red Bull car. He had always been on the sidelines and his performances are often undermined.
In an interview with Autosport, Koji said- “Regarding Tsunoda, our goal is for him to work hard and secure a seat at Red Bull Racing. We believe he has the talent. Of course, driver decisions are ultimately up to the team, but as a partner we’ve strongly requested that Tsunoda be given the chance to drive and test in a Red Bull car. We want to at least give him the opportunity to showcase his ability.”
“I’ve also spoken directly with Christian [Horner] about this. He hasn’t ruled it out. Nothing has been decided yet, but I think we need to proceed properly,” added the Honda chief. He’s optimistic that if everything goes well, Tsunoda could get that elusive second Red Bull seat and can serve the team beyond 2026. He is backing Tsunoda for that seat and said it would not mean ‘parting ways’ with Honda.
Red Bull will be partnering with Ford to develop their own Power Unit from 2026 onwards. Honda has a deal with Aston Martin as their engine supplier from 2026. Next year i.e. 2025 will be the last year for the successful Red Bull-Honda partnership.
The Formula 1 Caravan will have a pitstop this week at Mexico before heading to Brazil to complete the triple header. Brazil will be followed by a 2 week break. And the championship wraps up with another triple header at Las Vegas, Qatar and Abu Dhabi.
