Helmut Marko makes surprise Yuki Tsunoda reveal over Sergio Perez’s seat
Yuki Tsunoda has driven for the Red Bull second team since 2021.
Red Bull’s Helmut Marko has said Yuki Tsunoda is a possible contender to move up from VCARB in F1 2025.
Three of the four Red Bull seats are confirmed for F1 2025, but could there be a surprise last-minute twist?
Helmut Marko: Yuki Tsunoda is a candidate for Red Bull Racing
According to Helmut Marko, Red Bull’s motorsport consultant, Yuki Tsunoda is a possible candidate to join Max Verstappen at the senior team in F1 2025.
The Japanese driver is contracted for 2025, but with the VCARB squad. Red Bull’s two seats are filled, with Max Verstappen set to line up alongside Sergio Perez for their fifth consecutive year together.
But Marko said the driver pairings for both Red Bull teams are not yet fully decided, as Marko told F1-Insider.com that “Tsunoda is a candidate to drive alongside Max in 2025.
“The remaining races this season will decide what our driver pairings will look like next year.”
Last month, rumours emerged that Perez may be looking to announce his retirement from F1 at the Mexico City Grand Prix – rumours Perez immediately sought to quash by taking to social media to share a meme from The Wolf of Wall Street which simply said: “I’m not leaving”.
With Perez seemingly secure at Red Bull for another year, the door would appear to be closed for Tsunoda to move up to Red Bull Racing, although the linking of his name to the seat will likely come as music to the ears of Honda – Red Bull’s engine partner – as they enter their final year of partnership.
In the unlikely event that Perez is not retained alongside Verstappen, despite his contract, Marko said he has a clear idea of the route to take: “I can very well imagine that a junior driver will drive alongside Max.”
This would open the door for a possible head-to-head between Tsunoda and his forthcoming teammate Liam Lawson. The Kiwi driver has been promoted from his reserve role to replace Daniel Ricciardo for the final six races of the year.
Crucially, however, the second seat alongside Tsunoda at VCARB is not yet confirmed for F1 2025, and Marko hinted a shoot-out between the pair could decide the future for Red Bull should Perez not be kept in place.
“We have decided to compare Lawson and Tsunoda. They have the same material, the same conditions and each now has six races to prove that he is the better driver.
“We once started with the philosophy of giving young drivers a chance in Formula 1.
Sebastian Vettel, Max Verstappen, and Daniel Ricciardo are just three examples. The others are now following this philosophy.
“Mercedes is giving Kimi Antonelli a chance, Haas Oliver Bearman, Williams Franco Colapinto and it seems that, fortunately, Audi is now also seriously considering young Mick Schumacher.”
PlanetF1.com understands that, despite Marko’s linking of Tsunoda to the seat alongside Verstappen, the Japanese driver is not being seriously considered for a possible promotion – there has been no change in stance regarding Tsunoda’s positioning within the organisation, despite his solid form.
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While Tsunoda may not be getting a promotion to Red Bull, the Japanese driver said he feels ready to fight against the sport’s elite – including Max Verstappen.
“If I’m not ready, I [wouldn’t have been] able to fully announce the next season, at least for VCARB,” he said in Hungary, when asked if he feels ready for a Red Bull seat.
“I’ve been feeling ready for the last three years to fight against the top teams, higher positions, even with Max or whatever.
“But, in the end, they’re the ones who are going to decide and it’s not the things I can control. So I’m just focusing on what I have to do at the next two races. So I have to focus on a lot of things with our teams and yes, let’s see how it goes. Just the same as the previous races just focusing on what I have to do for performance.”
Asked whether he feels he deserves the seat at Red Bull alongside Verstappen, Tsunoda was blunt: “Yes!”
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