{"id":31324,"date":"2025-03-12T06:29:58","date_gmt":"2025-03-12T10:29:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/?p=31324"},"modified":"2025-03-12T11:48:43","modified_gmt":"2025-03-12T15:48:43","slug":"why-tsunoda-could-become-an-unlikely-option-for-cadillac","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2025\/03\/12\/why-tsunoda-could-become-an-unlikely-option-for-cadillac\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Tsunoda could become an unlikely option for Cadillac"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2025\/03\/06\/yuki-tsunoda-on-his-own-in-securing-f1-seat-say-honda\/\" target=\"_self\">Yuki Tsunoda<\/a> is one of a handful of drivers whose contract expires this season. Unlike the others in this category, who are predominantly rookies, <strong>the Japanese driver has half a decade of experience in F1<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>His value in the market has climbed significantly in recent years, as evidenced by the interest Haas and Audi expressed in securing his services.<\/p>\n<p>Looking ahead to the 2025 market, <strong>there will be fewer openings across the field<\/strong>\u00a0compared to last year.<\/p>\n<p>However, Tsunoda could emerge as an unlikely option for F1&#8217;s latest entrant &#8211; <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2025\/03\/11\/cadillac-reveal-contenders-for-2026-f1-line-up\/\" target=\"_self\">Cadillac<\/a> &#8211; as they assemble their line-up.<\/p>\n<h4>Why Tsunoda must look beyond Red Bull<\/h4>\n<p>In many ways, Tsunoda&#8217;s awkward contractual situation is through no fault of his own.<\/p>\n<p>The 24-year-old has scored the majority of VCARB&#8217;s points since 2023, <strong>outperforming a series of teammates in qualifying and race<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>Unfortunately the Tsunoda, his performances were not enough to convince <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2025\/03\/08\/red-bull-gap-to-mclaren-likely-increased-over-winter-break\/\" target=\"_self\">Red Bull<\/a> he was deserving of a promotion.<\/p>\n<p>Team principal Christian Horner&#8217;s reservations about the Japanese driver are well established.<\/p>\n<p>This always limited his chances of being awarded a seat alongside Max Verstappen.<\/p>\n<p>Regardless of Tsunoda&#8217;s efforts, the Milton Keynes squad<strong> showed little interest in giving him the top drive<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>More detrimental to the VCARB driver was Red Bull&#8217;s decision to activate their option on his contract last year &#8211; which prevented him from leaving the team.<\/p>\n<p><a id=\"vf_V-xNDRilZi1azZ1VBDg\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/2202499756\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'vf_V-xNDRilZi1azZ1VBDg',sig:'pzETmOqp4yUQQFR5PbZdBf_87w5xBJv0f_sO_dNSJ4U=',w:'594px',h:'397px',items:'2202499756',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Of course, whilst he is valued as a useful benchmark to compare young talents like Isack Hadjar, there seems little long-term future for Tsunoda at Red Bull.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2024\/12\/02\/horner-franco-colapinto-no-longer-an-option-for-red-bull\/\" target=\"_self\">Christian Horner<\/a> and Helmut Marko have both indicated his time in the Austrian set-up could come to an end this year.<\/p>\n<p>Although the team might decide that Tsunoda is worth holding onto for 2026 (as a reference for Arvin Lindblad), <strong>he will obviously not count on this<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>He will look elsewhere for more secure destinations to cement his place in F1.<\/p>\n<p>Unexpectedly, one of his options could be Cadillac.<\/p>\n<h4>Why Cadillac could consider Tsunoda<\/h4>\n<p>Throughout the summer break, there has been significant speculation about Cadillac&#8217;s driver options for 2026.<\/p>\n<p>Colton Herta, <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2025\/02\/24\/zhou-guanyu-optimistic-of-returning-to-f1-in-2026\/\" target=\"_self\">Zhou Guanyu<\/a> and Valtteri Bottas are some of the leading contenders to join the American outfit.<\/p>\n<p>However, none of these drivers are on the grid this season. This means Tsunoda is <strong>better placed to make an impression in 2025<\/strong> and put himself in a strong negotiating position.<\/p>\n<p>It is also worth noting that <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2025\/02\/25\/colton-herta-remains-front-runner-for-2026-cadillac-seat\/\" target=\"_self\">Colton Hera&#8217;s SuperLicense<\/a> could prevent him from joining F1.<\/p>\n<p>Even if he ends up earning the necessary license points, Tsunoda arguably has more weight in the market than the other drivers linked to Cadillac.<\/p>\n<p><a id=\"X7I1oHIVR4FP2a1f0TvguQ\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/2202501940\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'X7I1oHIVR4FP2a1f0TvguQ',sig:'juJYXLXO0Iy1LLAI7HFjO19SuKyzdAoZmq5C9DeJX2M=',w:'594px',h:'396px',items:'2202501940',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Should the American be ineligible, it is difficult to imagine two free agents will be more highly rated than Tsunoda.<\/p>\n<p>Cadillac team principal Graeme Lowdon has revealed that he is ready to pounce on opportunities that emerge as the year continues.<\/p>\n<p>In short, the US outfit don&#8217;t have a fixed line-up in mind, and are willing to be flexible.<\/p>\n<p><em>&#8220;There\u2019s some <strong>very talented drivers still out there<\/strong>,&#8221; <\/em>Lowdon\u00a0explains.<\/p>\n<p><em>&#8220;We hadn\u2019t been able to be in the driver market until the entry was confirmed. Now it has, <strong>we can move forward with that<\/strong>.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>&#8220;In terms of timing, we\u2019re not putting any timeline on driver announcements or anything like that but for sure, there will be in time.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>&#8220;For sure <strong>we\u2019re going to hire drivers based on merit<\/strong>. But as such, we see no reason why we won\u2019t have American drivers in time.&#8221;<\/em><\/p>\n<h4>Cadillac: A convenient stop-gap<\/h4>\n<p>Although Tsunoda&#8217;s position is far from ideal, it is essential his approach to the driver market is pragmatic.<\/p>\n<p>Whilst Cadillac certainly are unlikely to be front-runners in 2026, this is not a big issue.<\/p>\n<p>Tsunoda&#8217;s priority must be to secure a seat for 2026 &#8211; when <strong>the grid will overwhelmingly be on expiring deals<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>Provided that Cadillac are fast enough to fight for points (a realistic goal considering their resources and undivided attention towards 2026), the 24-year-old should have <strong>the necessary machinery to maintain and even raise his market value<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>This could help ensure he is well-positioned if any better long-term opportunities arise.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Yuki Tsunoda is one of a handful of drivers whose contract expires this season. Unlike the others in this category, who are predominantly rookies, the Japanese driver has half a decade of experience in F1. His value in the market has climbed significantly in recent years, as evidenced by the interest Haas and Audi expressed [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4927,"featured_media":31325,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,3],"tags":[2452,1581],"class_list":["post-31324","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-formula-1","category-news","tag-f1-2025-season","tag-yuki-tsunoda"],"modified_by":"Jaden Diaz-Ndisang","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31324","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4927"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31324"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31324\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31362,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31324\/revisions\/31362"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31325"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31324"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31324"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31324"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}