Yuki Tsunoda is one of several drivers on the 2024 F1 grid without a contract in place for next year as of yet, but the Japanese driver is confident that his recent strong performances on-track have made him an attractive proposition not only for RB but also for other teams.
Tsunoda, who recently turned 24, has spent all of his F1 career at the team that was formerly AlphaTauri, and whilst he generally struggled against Pierre Gasly in their two years together, since 2023 the young Japanese has been putting in impressive performances in a car that wasn’t a nailed-on top 10 contender.
And apart from an apparent anomaly in the Miami Sprint qualifying and race, and team orders in Bahrain, Tsunoda has gone unbeaten by Ricciardo this season, showing great strength to consistently get the maximum out of his RB and getting it into Q3 on several occasions.
Speaking ahead of the Emilia Romagna GP, RB’s home race, the young Japanese revealed he’s not yet worrying himself with his future, and thinks his track record this season will be enough to secure him a good seat going forward, by virtue of “just driving”:
“I’m not really thinking about that,” he said when asked about his future in F1. “I mean, probably it’s a good thing, that [I am] feeling confident, and I think the situation is a lot different compared to previous years.
“I don’t know how it’s going to be, but I feel definitely more interested from other teams, and what’s on [the table], so, it’s kind of matching my target, that [is] to show my value as a driver to other teams, that I can do well, just driving, basically.”
And despite him being a Red Bull junior since the early days of his racing career, there has never been serious consideration about him joining the squad to be Max Verstappen’s team-mate, and that doesn’t seem to have changed still, with Tsunoda unaware of any movement in the senior team in terms of drivers:
“I never heard yet anything about Red Bull, to be honest, so, I haven’t tested yet anything, so, I’m not sure what’s going on there,” he said. “I mean, obviously, if I can go Red Bull, that would be great, but still, RB is very good shape, to be honest, so hopefully, even [if] I can stay in RB, that would be great.”
And whilst he stated his desire to stay on at RB, the young Japanese doesn’t rule out moving out of the Red Bull programme if an “interesting offer” from another team comes through – and that could well be from Aston Martin Honda, as they will be known in 2026, if for whatever reason Lance Stroll vacates his seat, given Fernando Alonso’s freshly signed multi-year deal:
“Obviously, I also have to think about [my] future, in that case, you never know what’s going to happen, if I get a really interesting offer or whatever, I have to consider it.
“I was part of Red Bull family since very young, and obviously, I would like to stay as much as possible, and I feel support from them as well, so I want to kind of bring back them as a result.
“I think this season, so far, I’m able to do [that]. I’m doing well so far, so I just keep doing like this, other than that, yeah, see how it goes.”
