Japanese F1 driver Yuki Tsunoda is to join Red Bull Racing ahead of his home race at Suzuka in just over a week from now, and it seems Honda has played a part in this stunning development.
New Zealander Liam Lawson is heading in the other direction, returning to Racing Bulls after a quite simply brutal couple of events at Red Bull Racing. In the three qualifying sessions and races, the 23-year-old failed to get out of Q1, and his best result was P12 in the Grand Prix in China. However, that only came after Lewis Hamilton, Charles Leclerc and Pierre Gasly got disqualified.
Considering the performance of Racing Bulls in Australia and China where they were the lead cars on the grid at both events, it will be a perfect opportunity for the Kiwi to find his best form in a car with a wider operating window.
The long-term relationship between Yuki Tsunoda and Honda
Yuki Tsunoda has been backed by Honda since 2016 when he started out in single-seaters in the F4 Japanese series. He finished 3rd in it in 2017, before going on to win it a year later.
He joined the Red Bull Junior Academy in 2019 as Honda continued to back the now 24-year-old. After a very impressive maiden campaign in F3 at one of the smaller teams, Jenzer, in 2019, he moved up to F2 for 2020. A seriously impressive rookie season saw the Japanese driver finish 3rd in the standings behind Mick Schumacher and Callum Ilott, both with previous F2 years under their belt.
A change of heart by Honda?
Recently president of HRC Koji Watanabe said Yuki Tsunoda would need to forge his own path in F1 when the relationship between Honda and Red Bull/Racing Bulls came to an end at the end of this year. He has driven for the junior squad since 2021.
“He [Tsunoda] needs to take action himself,” Watanabe told the Japanese side of Motorsport.com. “I want him to make the best choices for himself. He’s now in his fifth year, has the ability, and understands the world of F1 well.“There’s not much more we can do for him. He needs to solidify his support team, including his manager, and secure the necessary seat. He is a professional, after all.”
However, in a crazy development in the early hours of Wednesday morning Japanese time, Dutch website De Limburger — also the first outlet to break the Yuki Tsunoda to Red Bull news — revealed Honda will be paying 10 million euros for the 24-year-old to get a chance at the top team.
Official confirmation of Yuki Tsunoda joining Red Bull Racing is expected to come at the end of the week.
