Red Bull questioned over Yuki Tsunoda F1 'mistake' that could have cost Max Verstappen the title

Tsuonda and Verstappen at Red Bull — Photo: © IMAGO

F1 2025

Red Bull questioned over Tsunoda 'mistake' that could have cost Verstappen the title

Tsunoda will not be competing the 2026 F1 season.

Kerry Violet F1 News Editor

F1 editor and journalist covering motorsport since 2024.

Thursday 11 December 2025 20:12

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Sky Sports F1 star Ted Kravitz has questioned Red Bull's decision to tell Yuki Tsunoda that he had been dropped from his full-time F1 seat prior to the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Ahead of last weekend's season finale, Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri and Tsunoda's team-mate Max Verstappen were all in with a chance of claiming the 2025 drivers' title.

With a 12-point gap between championship leader Norris and second-place Verstappen, all the Dutchman needed to do was win the grand prix and ensure Norris did not finish on the podium.

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As the title fight was set to go down to the wire at Yas Marina Circuit, Red Bull were going to need all the help they could get from their No.2 driver to help win Verstappen the title, so why didn't they wait to tell him he was sacked until after the race?

That is the very question Kravitz has put to the team after it was announced that Tsunoda would lose his seat following the Qatar GP and Verstappen lost out to Norris in Abu Dhabi, ending the 28-year-old's streak of four consecutive F1 championship victories.

Should Red Bull have waited to sack Tsunoda?

Speaking on the latest episode of The F1 Show Podcast, Sky's pit-lane reporter Kravitz said: "I think the mistake with Yuki was telling him that he was sacked the week before, one week early, because he was not really motivated."

Kravitz then referred to Tsunoda's attempt at defending P3 from Norris on lap 23 of the race as 'sort of half-hearted' after the Japanese racer not only failed to hold the McLaren star off but then also got slapped with a five-second penalty for the move.

However, the Sky Sports star did acknowledge that the sort of defence he was suggesting Tsunoda should have adopted to help Verstappen would have been highly frowned upon, saying: “Alright, Yuki would probably have damaged his F1 career and his reputation almost beyond repair had he actually taken Lando out.

"I mean it would have secured him thanks from Red Bull but he wasn’t going to do that.

“I mean really, you can’t really do that. That’s stuff of Brad Pitt’s F1 movie... I don’t know what much more they could do and Laurent Mekies [Red Bull team principal] reflected that.”

Tsunoda hardly went out with a bang in his final race as Verstappen's team-mate and will now spend a year on the sidelines as Red Bull's F1 test and reserve driver.

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F1 Red Bull Max Verstappen Yuki Tsunoda Ted Kravitz