Christian Horner says Yuki Tsunoda has the opportunity to earn a Red Bull seat, responding to the speculation across F1 news outlets.
Yuki Tsunoda was at the centre of the most active spell of F1’s driver market this year. Despite putting together a very strong 2023 campaign, demonstrated once again by his COTA points haul, Tsunoda found himself in a precarious position. The emergence of Liam Lawson presented Red Bull with an exciting talent to put into AlphaTauri – whilst the Austrian team continued to sing the praises of Daniel Ricciardo.
Despite Ricciardo’s injury, there were never any doubts about his continuation in F1 for 2024. As such, at least for some time, it appeared that Lawson could jeopardise the Japanese driver’s place in the team. Thankfully for Tsunoda, he signed a one-year contract extension – safeguarding his position on the grid.
Considering the talented drivers at Red Bull’s disposal, there have been rumours about the Japanese driver’s long-term chances of earning a promotion. After all, despite comfortably dispatching De Vries and performing well against Ricciardo, the Milton Keynes squad has hardly mentioned the 23-year-old as a candidate to partner Max Verstappen.
Since AlphaTauri is meant to nurture and develop Red Bull-calibre talent, this incongruency has sparked rumours. Specifically, some have suggested that Honda’s influence played an important factor in the decision to offer Tsunoda another contract. Additionally, reports of disagreement between Christian Horner and Helmut Marko are also beginning to surface.
Horner clears the air
In a recent interview, Christian Horner made sure to put these rumours to bed:
“Yuki is a very quick driver, and we’ve seen him evolve over the last three years,” he told The Mirror.
“He now goes into his fourth season [2024] as a junior driver – and what you have to remember is that Red Bull Racing’s only interest in AlphaTauri is as a potential springboard into a Red Bull seat.
“Yuki is in Formula 1 because of his talent, not because of his nationality.
“Now, whether he ultimately proves to be good enough to step up to the Red Bull Racing team… He will have to earn that opportunity based on what he does on track.”
Small margin for error
Some would argue that Red Bull has a “good problem.” Many teams would envy the position of having too much talent and not enough seats. With that said, Christian Horner must ensure his team optimises the drivers at their disposal.
Big decisions have to be made regarding Sergio Perez and Daniel Ricciardo, in particular, with the 2024 season approaching. Helmut Marko has already stated that Liam Lawson will have a full-time F1 seat by 2025 “at the latest.” If this is the case, another driver announcement can be expected within the next twelve months.
As seen this year, Red Bull are more than willing to make mid-season changes if they deem it necessary. Therefore, the performances from the AlphaTauri and Red Bull garages will have significant implications. Tsunoda received little praise for defying expectations and outperforming Nyck de Vries.
Against Ricciardo, however, Tsunoda will be harder to ignore if he establishes himself as AlphaTauri’s lead driver.
