Yuki Tsunoda: ‘Others haven’t been this close’ to Max Verstappen at Red Bull

Yuki Tsunoda has claimed that his predecessors weren’t as close to Max Verstappen as he has been in recent races.

Speaking prior to Red Bull’s official announcement that he would be dropped for the 2026 F1 season, Tsunoda was keen to highlight the progress he has made alongside the four-time world champion.

At the Qatar Grand Prix, Tsunoda out-qualified Verstappen in sprint qualifying, becoming the first teammate to do so since Sergio Perez in Azerbaijan.

While Tsunoda was knocked out in Q1 in grand prix qualifying, his deficit to Verstappen was less than three-tenths.

Tsunoda feels that his progress in the last three races — particularly since receiving identical machinery to Verstappen — has been significant.

Speaking before Red Bull’s 2026 driver line-up decision, Tsunoda told reporters in Qatar: “I mean especially the last three races, the team gave me a lot of support and [I was] able to drive with [an] almost identical car to Max, and I think within that I proved a lot of things,” he said.

“I think since I had an identical car, I was always within two, three tenths and even last weekend [in Las Vegas], consistently FP1 to FP3, there was multiple laps I was ahead of him.

“Yesterday, Sprint Qualifying [in Qatar], able to help him and finish ahead of Max in qualifying, Sprint qualifying.

“Qualifying was a bit of a shame, but within that worst case, I was still three tenths behind and three tenths behind [is] normally qualifying by top five.”

Tsunoda’s fighting talk

Tsunoda’s comments came on the eve of Red Bull’s inevitable decision to replace the Japanese driver with Isack Hadjar.

He will remain within the Red Bull family as the team’s test and reserve driver.

Tsunoda’s fighting talk continued, as he suggested his predecessors weren’t able to get “close” to Verstappen in the way he has managed in recent rounds.

“So yeah, I think I’m showing what I can do,” he added, “And I don’t think within my seat [others have] consistently [been] able to drive like this close.

“At least what I remember, last few years, I didn’t see much drivers like this, able to achieve like this step in the middle of the season and went through very, very difficult moments with the beginning of the season.

“But yeah, I think it’s just a matter of now, I’ll try to help Max next race. But, like I said, [the] pace is there and I don’t think a normal driver can live with it in my seat yet.”

Tsunoda was also overlooked at Racing Bulls, with Liam Lawson retaining his seat.

Arvid Lindblad has been promoted after showing flashes of brilliance in FIA Formula 2.