Yuki Tsunoda reveals "nice" Christian Horner message after shock F1 exit

Yuki Tsunoda has opened up about receiving a “nice” message from Christian Horner following the Red Bull team principal’s unexpected departure.

Following the British Grand Prix, Red Bull announced that they had parted ways with Horner.

Horner had been instrumental to Red Bull’s F1 success over the last 20 years as their team principal since 2005.

Despite his on-track struggles since being promoted by Red Bull alongside Max Verstappen, Tsunoda appreciated Horner’s continued support.

Speaking ahead of the Belgian Grand Prix on Thursday, Tsunoda revealed Horner had been in contact after his sudden exit.

“Yeah, I think not much to say. And I appreciate how Christian supported me in previous races,” Tsunoda said.

“And, yeah, I mean, also, I got a message from him actually yesterday that, you know, show what you can do and, you know, yeah, it was a nice message.”

Horner’s replacement as team boss is Laurent Mekies.

Mekies had been Racing Bulls’ team principal since the start of the 2024 season and worked alongside Tsunoda.

Speaking of Mekies, Tsunoda added: “And with Laurent, yeah, I know him since VCARB and we've worked really well. We had a good start of the year in terms of performance.

“And, you know, we had a lot of trust between us. So, yeah, looking forward to work with him. And, yeah, Alan, I just met him and congrats as well. Messaged as well. But he's definitely motivated.

“I think, yeah, I'm excited to see how he's going to do as team principal.”

Tsunoda sees positives in Mekies’ arrival

Tsunoda has struggled to get to grips with Red Bull’s 2025 F1 challenger.

The Japanese driver has scored just four points since joining the team at Suzuka.

Given his prior relationship with Mekies, Tsunoda thinks it will be a seamless transition.

“I mean, you know, he's just joined middle of the season,” Tsunoda explained. “And just had two weeks. So I don't think he will not really yet change anything. It's still probably dynamics are similar.

“Probably he will see the next few races and see what he can do. But, yeah, at least we know that we have a good relationship. I can chat. You know, I'll be able, I don't have to really adapt to the relationship or create a relationship, which is good. And, yeah, I just came into the paddock with him, you know, and had a normal conversation.

“So, yeah, it feels like back to VCARB, but it's not. It's different jersey, so it's cool.”

Tsunoda also confirmed that he still isn't running the same upgrades as Verstappen this weekend.

“I heard yesterday that we won't use it,” Tsunoda concluded. ”So, I mean, yeah, the team is working hard to get any upgrade. But, yeah, this race, so still, yeah, a couple of packages behind. But I'm just going to extract performance as much as possible, what I have now. 

”Yeah, it's also, at the same time, it's not an easy thing. Especially now, the current grid is really, really tight. Some of those details will count. But, yeah, I'll do my best.”