Why Yuki Tsunoda is back driving a Red Bull F1 car
Yuki Tsunoda has got back behind the wheel of a Red Bull F1 car. But why?
Yuki Tsunoda returned to the cockpit of a recent Red Bull Formula 1 car on Tuesday at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.
The 26-year-old Japanese driver lost his Red Bull F1 seat at the end of a disappointing 2025 season and was replaced by Isack Hadjar, who was promoted from sister squad Racing Bulls to become Max Verstappen’s next team-mate.
But Tsunoda, who is Red Bull’s reserve driver for 2026, was back behind the wheel of the RB21 during a TPC test (Testing of Previous Cars) on Tuesday. Tsunoda logged the equivalent of two race distances of the Barcelona track before concluding his outing.
“Still smiling after two race distances in the Barcelona heat,” Tsunoda wrote on X. “So good to be back behind the wheel, feels like I never left.”
Red Bull is using its permitted TPC programme to give Tsunoda track time in an F1 car to keep him sharp and fit. He is set to make another TPC outing in Austria.
“We are very happy to give To Yuki a chance to get back to the car,” Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies told media including Crash.net on Sunday in Barcelona.
“He has done a very good job for us. He's part of the Red Bull family, and we took the very, very, very first opportunity to put him back in the car and he's going to do that in a few days.
“Above all, it's important for him that he has a chance to stay warm, stay sharp in the car. He does a lot of work in the simulator, a lot of work to stay fit physically. There is nothing like driving the car and that's the best for him to stay [sharp]’.
Red Bull was among several F1 teams in action in the post Barcelona-Catalunya test.
Ferrari, Cadillac and Aston Martin completed the next round of Pirelli tyre testing, with Charles Leclerc, Guanyu Zhou and Jak Crawford behind the wheel for the respective teams.
A second day of Pirelli tyre testing is taking place on Wednesday, with Zhou staying on for Cadillac and Arthur Leclerc replacing his brother at Ferrari.
McLaren also ran reigning Formula 2 champion Leonardo Fornaroli and ex-Manor driver Will Stevens during a TPC test at Monza on Tuesday.
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