“I haven't spoken anything with them": Yuki Tsunoda breaks silence over speculation around his F1 future with Red Bull and Aston Martin (Exclusive)

Yuki Tsunoda claims not having spoken to Red Bull Racing yet about his F1 future for 2025 and beyond. Speaking exclusively to Sportskeeda in Monaco, the RB driver suggested options outside the Milton Keynes camp were worth considering for the future with the lack of availability of a top team drive.

Consistent performances and a calm mindset have resulted in placing Yuki Tsunoda among the top drivers in the midfield. However, the Japanese driver is without a contract for 2025 and beyond, and both Honda and Red Bull Racing have yet to evaluate his future. The Japanese driver has been linked to Aston Martin, who will partner with Honda for 2026, and Audi, who are still waiting on a decision from Carlos Sainz.

Discussing his future with Sportskeeda, it is evident that his loyalties lie with the Red Bull Racing camp and Honda. The Japanese automotive giant is an integral part of his future decision. He believes that he is happy to continue with Visa Cashapp RB.

However, if there is no interest from Red Bull Racing and better options are available, he would be open to considering other opportunities. The 22-year-old suggested that negotiations surrounding his future have not been done and he has not had conversations with Red Bull yet.

Asked about his future and whether he was talking to other teams, Yuki Tsunoda replied:

“I mean obviously as a driver you always want to be in a good car, the best car as much as possible, and currently Red Bull has that best car throughout the grid. Obviously, If I can be one day in a Red Bull, that will be great, that one especially. But the truth is I haven’t really spoken anything with them at all about the seat."

He added,

"So yeah that's the truth and I'm quite happy with the VARB as well, they are performing very well recently. A lot of progress, I love the team, so yeah I mean I am fully open to the team at Red Bull but as long as they don’t want me or they don’t choose me, it's not possible to go there. I am very loyal to Red Bull because for sure they gave me a lot of opportunities, without that I wouldn’t be here.”

Weighing on his options for the future, Yuki Tsunoda added:

“Obviously Honda as well, they will be with Aston Martin. At Aston Martin there is Alonso, Alonso extended the contract recently by quite a lot, obviously there is Lance as well. Just need an available seat and currently unfortunately there are not too many top seats available at the teams right now. So for sure like I said, happy with the Red Bull, VCARB is good, but if I cannot see really much future in Red Bull, or If I got an interesting offer from outside, I think theres room to consider.”

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Yuki Tsunoda is enjoying his fourth season with Visa Cashapp RB and its new management

With Franz Tost playing a big role in the first three seasons, RB's new bosses Laurent Mekies and CEO Peter Bayer have been equally encouraging of Yuki Tsunoda as a talent. Describing his fourth season with the Faenza squad, he admits to enjoying the new era where the team is evolving and has been rebadged with a new name. The RB driver is comparatively more comfortable with his team now and is enjoying a decent season so far.

With a good start to the 2024 season, the performances of Yuki Tsunoda in the last seven races have made the likes of his teammate Daniel Ricciardo uncomfortable. Despite the Australian being a top-class talent, the Honda protege has managed to level up his performance this year. Molding himself into an attractive prospect for future employers, the Gen Z talent has also managed to find comfort in the Faenza team.

Asked to describe his fourth season with the Faenza squad, Yuki Tsunoda said:

“Yeah, first I'm happy with the, obviously very happy with the team. I’m seeing the progress throughout the year. Yeah, I mean, I still loved the Franz era for the last three years. But also, I love Laurent’s era, the Laurent-Peter era, and the team’s changing. I feel like the team structure itself, as people, there are a lot of changes but at the same time the mood or atmosphere is kind of similar to what I’ve had in the last three years."

"So I am feeling very positive, we were able to keep that very goodness of our team, Italian culture, a bit of Italian blood, you know Bicester blood. Those kind of bright and happy mood is still here. Feeling very comfortable right now an d happy with my progress as a driver. The team helped me until now to be able to perform like now. Yeah Im very happy that both of them as a team, we are all stepping up quite well.”

The performances of Yuki Tsunoda have drawn praise from the likes of Peter Bayer, Laurent Mekies, and Helmut Marko. However, RB’s plan for the young driver remains unclear with Liam Lawson waiting in the wings. It is unclear whether Red Bull Racing plans to continue him as a driver with RB as the team reinvents themselves or promote him to the senior team.

A fourth season with them has resulted in to a comfort zone for the young driver with the team and the car, translating in some spectacular results this season. Currently, he has scored ten out of the 15 points in the team’s tally and is placed tenth in the driver’s championship.