Yuki Tsunoda hits back after Christian Horner’s brutal comment as F1 future made clear | F1 | Sport

Yuki Tsunoda has insisted that he wants to stay within the Red Bull family despite team principal Christian Horner questioning the rationale behind keeping him in their stable in 2026 should he fail to step up to the Milton Keynes-based team.

Tsuonda has been a consistent operator with Racing Bulls since Pierre Gasly’s exit from the team in late 2022. He dominated Nyck de Vries and Daniel Ricciardo, leading to both drivers dropping out of the sport mid-season, and put up impressive numbers against Liam Lawson after the New Zealander was promoted with six races remaining in 2024.

However, despite his success, when Sergio Perez was dropped by Red Bull in December, Horner and Helmut Marko elected to name Lawson as Max Verstappen’s new team-mate. While Tsunoda will remain with Racing Bulls in 2025, his long-term future is now unclear.

“We’re acutely aware that if we’re not able to provide an opportunity for Yuki – being, in all honesty, this year – does it make sense [to keep him]?” Horner told The Race earlier this year. “You can’t have a driver in the support team for five years. You can’t always be the bridesmaid. You’ve either got to let them go at that point or look at something different.”

Despite those comments, the 24-year-old is determined to stay and fight for his future within the Red Bull umbrella. After all, if Lawson fails to establish himself as an upgrade on Gasly, Alex Albon and Perez before him, Tsunoda would be the leading candidate to replace him in 2026.

“Maybe our team will change its name again next year, so it’s a different team,” he joked to media, including Express Sport, at the F1 75 Live event. “Let’s see. It depends upon my performance, [as with] every season.

“Obviously, I would like to stay at the Red Bull family. If I’m at Red Bull Racing, that’s amazing. If not, still I would still love to be part of this team. I’ve been in this team [for] five years already.

“I’m probably [the] most [longest-serving] driver in this team. I already feel like I’m connected to every person, which is for me very important as a driver to develop myself and focus on what I want to do.

“I feel a lot of support from them, which means a lot to me. Whatever happens there’s going to be interesting options, but obviously, my main target is to be in this team, the Red Bull family.”