Helmut Marko has revealed that there are no plans to remove Yuki Tsunoda from his seat at Red Bull, despite a miserable start to life with the Milton Keynes squad. The Austrian also admitted that there is 'no alternative' to the Japanese racer, should they desire another mid-season change. Tsunoda was parachuted into Christian Horner's squad after just two race weekends in 2025, replacing Liam Lawson.
The New Zealander failed to score a point and was fighting at the back end of the grid in Australia and China, prompting the team's leadership to execute an early change. By bringing in Tsunoda, who started the campaign in fine form, many expected Red Bull's woes to worsen, but the pendulum has swung in the opposite direction. The 25-year-old has scored just seven points in 10 races and experienced a miserable race in Austria last time out, finishing well out of the points and crashing into Alpine's Franco Colapinto.
With Red Bull dropping back from Ferrari and Mercedes in the Constructors' Championship standings, speculation has started regarding Tsunoda's future. However, according to Marko, he can breathe easily for now.
"The plan is for him to finish the season, nothing has changed," he told Kleine Zeitung. "We also have no alternative. There have been talks with him, also with the engineering team. He was completely out of his depth in Spielberg. We want to stabilise him and no longer set up the car so hard towards Max. That could help him."
Tsunoda now faces the daunting task of overhauling his form at the British Grand Prix. The Kanagawa-born racer was replaced by teenage sensation Arvid Lindblad in FP1, who may form part of the domino effect that could eventually oust Red Bull's incumbent second driver.
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Lindblad, 17, is involved in a Formula Two title battle with the likes of Richard Verschoor, Alex Dunne and Jak Crawford, and has turned heads within the Red Bull camp in the process. Many expect him to step into F1 with Racing Bulls in 2026.
This would create a pathway for rookie Isack Hadjar to step into the Red Bull team alongside Max Verstappen. The French-Algerian racer has been one of the standout performers this year, and he has registered more points than Tsunoda and Lawson combined.
However, for now, Tsunoda is safe. "Yuki has got until the end of the season to demonstrate that he's the guy to remain in the car," Horner reiterated at Silverstone. "We have Isack [Hadjar] also doing a good job, and Liam finding his form as well. So, within the Red Bull pool, we have talent."
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