Yuki Tsunoda returns to Red Bull cockpit on back of Turkish Grand Prix announcement

Red Bull reserve driver Yuki Tsunoda returned to the cockpit of an F1 car for a demonstration run in Istanbul on Friday.

The Japanese driver’s outing came after it was announced that the Turkish Grand Prix will rejoin the schedule on a five-year deal from the F1 2027 season.

Yuki Tsunoda completes Red Bull demo run as Turkish Grand Prix returns

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Tsunoda spent five years on the grid from 2021, becoming Max Verstappen’s Red Bull teammate after the opening two races of the 2025 campaign.

After scoring points in just seven of his 22 races as a Red Bull driver, Tsunoda was demoted to a reserve role and replaced by Isack Hadjar for the F1 2026 season.

Formula 1 announced on Friday that the popular Turkish Grand Prix will return to the schedule from next year, having last been held during the pandemic-affected seasons of 2020/21.

Turkey previously had a permanent place on the F1 calendar between 2005 and 2011.

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To coincide with the announcement, Tsunoda took part in a demonstration run in Istanbul behind the wheel of Sebastian Vettel’s title-winning Red Bull RB8 from 2012.

The run saw him drive on the city’s streets as well as the Istanbul Park race circuit, widely regarded as one of the best to be produced by long-serving F1 circuit architect Hermann Tilke.

Tsunoda’s last outing behind the wheel of the RB8 came on the streets of San Francisco in February, when he was forced to make a quick escape after the car caught fire.

Tsunoda, who will turn 26 next month, is expected to eye a return to a full-time race seat for the F1 2027 season.

Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies opened the door to allowing Tsunoda to pursue opportunities elsewhere, commenting earlier this month that “we wish for him that another opportunity comes [his] way.”

Tsunoda has strong links to Honda, Red Bull’s former engine supplier, which entered a partnership with the Aston Martin team ahead of this season.

Haas, which enjoys a technical partnership with Honda’s Japanese rival Toyota, is known to have expressed an interest in Tsunoda in the past.

Speaking to PlanetF1.com and other media outlets at the end of last season, Haas team principal Ayao Komatsu refused to rule out a move for his compatriot for 2027.

Asked if he would be interested in working with Tsunoda at some stage, Komatsu said: “I can’t comment on his future. Obviously he’s not our driver.

“2027? I think we have to focus on ’26 with our drivers and with brand-new regulations.

“I think most of the drivers knew that, obviously, as they wanted to see how ’26 pans out and they wanted to pick a better team for ’27.

“That’s why the driver market is going to be so open for ’27.

“So to put ourselves in a better position, our best position, the important thing is we’ve got to have a competitive ’26 season.

“That’s our focus.”

PlanetF1.com understands that the futures of Haas’s current drivers, Oliver Bearman and Esteban Ocon, are not secure beyond the end of this season.

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