Yuki Tsunoda's Red Bull regrets: 'Pretty good f***ing car'

Yuki Tsunoda has revealed that his only regret at joining Red Bull is that he missed out on a 'pretty good f***ing car' at his old Racing Bulls team.

Tsunoda was promoted up into the Red Bull seat after just two races of the 2025 season, replacing Liam Lawson who was struggling to get anything out of the RB21.

However, Tsunoda has not fared much better, only scoring 30 points across 23 race weekends with the team, despite team-mate Max Verstappen able to be in a title battle in the same car.

His poor performances have led to the Japanese racer being axed for 2026, with Tsunoda's former Racing Bulls team-mate Isack Hadjar stepping up into the seat after a fantastic rookie season.

Tsunoda is dropping off the grid, and will instead be a reserve driver at Red Bull, ready to step in whenever drivers are out through illness or injury.

Hadjar and Lawson have been able to extract a lot of performance from Red Bull's sister team this year, with Hadjar scoring 51 points so far and claiming a maiden grand prix podium at the Dutch GP.

It has led to comments from Tsunoda about his Red Bull promotion, and how it meant that he missed out on Racing Bulls' brilliant machinery having previously spent four full seasons with the outfit.

"Probably I was saying that I didn't have any regrets, but I mean the only regret I have is missing out on that pretty good f***ing car in VCARB," Tsunoda told media in Abu Dhabi.

"It is like throwing away your kids, your baby - because this is the car that I developed with the team throughout the years, since we had this regulation. I'm sure there's my DNA inside as well.

"So missing out that and finishing it without finally being able to get at the level that we wanted is something that I miss.

"But, at the same time, yeah, I don't regret that decision [to join Red Bull], I would say, still now."

Red Bull's latest second driver worries

Once again, Red Bull have found themselves in a position without somebody who can back up Verstappen in his title battle with other teams.

They have now tried seven team-mates for the Dutchman, with Hadjar set to be the eighth, with only Sergio Perez lasting more than two full seasons.

The Mexican racer seemed like the ultimate fix to the problem, but his performances in 2024 were bad enough for the team to release him from his contract early and try out Lawson.

Time will tell how Hadjar will get on in the seat, but he will know that he is walking into a seat that has been a poisoned chalice in recent seasons.

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