Yuki Tsunoda will replace Liam Lawson at Red Bull for the Japanese Grand Prix next week following a spate of poor performances from the New Zealander.
Partnering Max Verstappen is a tricky task on its own, but the RB21 has been prone to unpredictable handling, which has proven difficult for Lawson in the opening two rounds of the season.
The second seat at Red Bull has also been a tough place for other Formula 1 drivers, with the likes of Pierre Gasly, Alex Albon and Daniil Kvyat already falling victim to its so-called 'curse' over the past decade.
Tsunoda, in his fifth year of F1, has spent his entire career at Red Bull’s junior team, and is finally being afforded the opportunity to prove himself alongside a four-time world champion.
Here’s everything to know about him:
The Japan native was born in 2000 and started competing in the JAF Junior Karting Championship aged 10. His career quickly took off after he graduated from Honda’s Suzuka Circuit Racing School in 2016 and made his single-seater debut in Japanese Formula 4. Less than five years later, he was on the F1 grid.
When Tsunoda arrived in Europe in 2019, he didn’t speak English and had very little knowledge of the circuits on the F1 calendar. However, he quickly got up to speed and impressed Red Bull bosses by finishing third in his only F2 campaign in 2020, having taken three victories. With Honda’s backing, he secured a seat at AlphaTauri (now Racing Bulls) for the next season.
As a rookie, he struggled with consistency, and his then-team-mate Gasly regularly outperformed him. The Frenchman often qualified in the top six and ended the season ninth in the standings, while Tsunoda finished 14th. He improved the following year but still lagged behind Gasly, as the team struggled throughout the season with an uncompetitive car.
In 2023, Tsunoda consistently outperformed Nyck de Vries, both in qualifying and race pace. The Dutchman was unceremoniously axed after 10 grands prix and replaced by Daniel Ricciardo, whose pace was fairly on-par with Tsunoda. The youngster proved himself in 2024 with strong performances against the veteran Australian, who was once believed to be world champion material, until he was also dumped mid-season. Lawson, who stepped up from his reserve driver role in mid-2024 quickly impressed in the midfield car, often matching Tsunoda’s pace.
When it came time to replace a flailing Sergio Perez, many were convinced that Tsunoda had earned the Red Bull seat, not only because of his improvement over the previous four seasons, but because he and Lawson were largely like-for-like. However, the Kiwi was promoted ahead of the Japanese.
Tsunoda has since stepped into a team leader role alongside 20-year-old rookie Isack Hadjar. It’s the first time that the 24-year-old has been the clear number one driver at the Italian outfit, and Red Bull bosses seem to have taken notice. Already, he's scored three points this season, and sits 13th in the drivers' standings going into Japan.
Therefore, news that he’d swap places with Lawson at his home race wasn't all that surprising, given the team’s history of switching drivers and an apparent 'curse' placed on the second Red Bull seat after Ricciardo's departure at the peak of his career in 2018.
At the time, the Australian sought a new challenge at Renault after it became clear that Red Bull was placing its future championship hopes on Verstappen. It’s been a revolving door of drivers ever since.
Gasly was promoted from Toro Rosso in 2019, but was demoted mid-season. Albon replaced him but struggled with consistency and was well off Verstappen’s pace. Perez, who joined in 2021, helped his team-mate secure his first world title, and won a handful of races. However, the Mexican’s performance quickly dropped off and, by 2024, he was significantly off the pace. Only time will tell if Tsunoda has what it takes to break the curse.
