Yuki Tsunoda sends defiant message about F1 future after Red Bull axe

Yuki Tsunoda is adamant that he’s not “finished” with F1 after losing his Red Bull drive for 2026.

Earlier this week, Red Bull finally confirmed Isack Hadjar as Max Verstappen’s teammate for next year.

Racing Bulls also announced their two drivers, with Liam Lawson retaining his spot and Arvid Lindblad promoted from their junior programme.

Tsunoda made his F1 debut in 2021 with AlphaTauri.

Despite an incident-filled rookie campaign, Tsunoda kept his seat for 2022.

He continued with AlphaTauri — now Racing Bulls — as Red Bull used him as a benchmark.

Tsunoda outperformed Nyck de Vries and Daniel Ricciardo, and while Lawson provided a sterner test, the Japanese driver still came out on top.

Despite being Red Bull’s best driver outside of Verstappen in 2024, Tsunoda was initially overlooked for a promotion.

After just two races in 2025, Red Bull dropped Lawson for Tsunoda, finally giving him a shot at the big team.

It hasn’t worked out for Tsunoda, who — like his predecessor — has struggled to get close to Verstappen.

However, Tsunoda has made progress in recent weeks, particularly now he has equal machinery in terms of upgrades.

Tsunoda’s strong message

With Red Bull making a decision so late in the season, Tsunoda cannot talk to any other teams.

Alpine and Cadillac both had seats available earlier in the year before confirming their respective driver line-ups.

Tsunoda remains within the Red Bull fold as their test and reserve driver.

“I’m not finished yet,” Tsunoda wrote on his social media accounts.

“Finding out I won’t have a race seat in 2026 was incredibly tough, but I’m determined to work harder than ever with Red Bull as test and reserve driver to develop with the team, and prove I deserve a place on the grid.

“Life’s full of setbacks, and this is mine. It’s not going to deter me from being the best F1 driver I can be.”