Red Bull reportedly NOT INTERESTED in AlphaTauri driver amid Sergio Perez pressure

Red Bull

Red Bull reportedly NOT INTERESTED in AlphaTauri driver amid Perez pressure

The Mexican's seat appears safe for now with one of the best young drivers not on Marko's radar

Joe Ellis

Tuesday 1 August 2023 17:27

Red Bull is reportedly not interested in Yuki Tsunoda replacing Sergio Perez if the Mexican loses his seat.

According to The Athletic's Luke Smith, the senior team do not consider Tsunoda, currently racing for the junior AlphaTauri team, as a viable replacement whether that be for next year or 2025.

Tsunoda has ties to Honda having come through the ranks in his native Japan and that manufacturer will be working with Aston Martin from 2026.

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Such an agreement might see Red Bull steer away from Tsunoda, who scored another point for AlphaTauri at the Belgian GP ahead of his new team-mate Daniel Ricciardo.

A key battle

Yuki Tsunoda has scored all of AlphaTauri's point in 2023

"As for the future Red Bull seat? It’s very early days," Smith writes. "The indications from Red Bull in the past have been that Tsunoda isn’t someone they’re looking at seriously to step up in the near future.

"Ricciardo is a known quantity for Red Bull; his return will tell it as much about Tsunoda as it will about Ricciardo.

"Should Red Bull decide to look at driver options other than Perez for 2025, it will surely consider available options, not just those racing for AlphaTauri."

Other Red Bull juniors who could be promoted into F1 soon include Liam Lawson, who is the reserve for both teams at the moment, Zane Maloney, Enzo Fittipaldi and Dennis Hauger.

Ayumu Iwasa is also in the Red Bull academy but like Tsunoda, is closely connected to Honda through Japanese links.