Red Bull’s revolving door has claimed another victim – one Yuki Tsunoda, and this time, the team’s management is doing its best to wrap the clinical execution in a layer of velvet.
Following a season of high-stakes musical chairs that saw the Japanese driver leap into the senior Red Bull seat only to stall out, the Milton Keynes-based outfit has pulled the plug.
Isack Hadjar is in for 2026, and Tsunoda has been handed the consolation prize of a reserve role.
Despite the cold reality of the numbers and the results, Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies is leaning heavily into a narrative of internal struggle and heartbreak over the decision. Really?
A Bitter Pill to Swallow
Speaking on the choice to demote the Japanese driver back to the sidelines, Mekies painted a picture of a management team torn by the move. The Frenchman, who mentored Tsunoda during their shared days at Racing Bulls, seemed keen to emphasize the emotional weight of the transition.
“It has been a very difficult decision to take,” the Frenchman explained.
“The second seat in Oracle Red Bull Racing is not an easy one. We have a tough car to drive. And of course, we have tried everything we could to support Yuki.”
According to Mekies, the move wasn't a snap judgment but a reluctant conclusion reached after exhausting all avenues of improvement.
“At some stage, we had to make the difficult call between where we were seeing that going for the following years. I hope, and I think, that Yuki will get another chance. He will be reserve driver with us next year.”
The Sincerity Gap: Cruel Reality vs. Corporate Kindess
However, one has to wonder if Mekies is playing the role of the "good cop" a little too earnestly.
While he speaks of "difficulty," the scoreboard tells a much simpler story. Tsunoda’s campaign was, by almost any metric, a disappointment.
Finishing 17th in the Drivers’ Championship while driving a car that was frequently at the front of the pack – and scored eight wins in the hands of Max Verstapppen – is rarely a recipe for job security.
When a driver’s highlight of the year is a solitary P6 in Baku, the decision to swap him for a rising star like Hadjar doesn't look like a "difficult call" – it looks like a logical necessity.
In the cutthroat world of Red Bull Racing, where performance is the only currency, one suspects the "difficult" part of the process was simply finding a polite way to break the news to Honda.
The Door Left Ajar?
Ever the optimist – at least for the cameras – Mekies insisted that this isn't the final chapter for Tsunoda.
He pointed to the volatile history of the Red Bull driver pool as evidence that a comeback is never off the table, referencing the chaotic shuffle at the end of 2024 when Liam Lawson was briefly promoted before the seat was handed to Yuki.
“You never know what's going to happen,” the team boss continued. “We have been quite famous in making fairly swift driver decisions in the past.
“I recall one moment – at the end of the 2024 season, Yuki was driving very well. It was very difficult for him to digest. Liam was getting the promotion in Red Bull Racing.”
Mekies highlighted Tsunoda's resilience during that period as a trait that might save him again.
“He went into the winter thinking, was he going to get the chance one day or not? He came back, and we set ourselves with the team at the time the objective to maximise everything – to shoot for the stars. Three races after, he was driving in that Oracle Red Bull Racing team.”
Read also: Tsunoda opens up on his one regret after Red Bull promotionWhether this is a genuine belief in a future resurrection or merely a soft landing for a driver who lost his way remains to be seen. For now, Mekies is sticking to his story of a talent sidelined by circumstance rather than pace.
“So you never know what the future holds. I'm sure everyone in this room and beyond has experienced setbacks – sometimes hard setbacks,” h concluded.
“That’s a setback for him. But I am confident that he has a lot in him that will allow him to have another opportunity.”
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