Red Bull avoid Max Verstappen repeat as F1 star 'blocked' from GT racing

Max Verstappen, Laurent Mekies, Yuki Tsunoda, 2025, generic — Photo: © IMAGO

Red Bull

Red Bull avoid Max Verstappen repeat as F1 star 'blocked' from GT racing

The search is now on to replace one Red Bull star

Kerry Violet F1 News Editor

F1 editor and journalist covering motorsport since 2024.

Monday 3 August 2026 23:15

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Red Bull F1 team have reportedly moved to 'block' one of their drivers from following in Max Verstappen's footsteps by competing at an event in the GT World Challenge Australia.

Yuki Tsunoda has had to spend most of the 2026 season sat on the sidelines in the Red Bull garage after the team run by Laurent Mekies took the decision to remove him from their full-time lineup.

Having been handed the promotion from Racing Bulls up to the main squad after Liam Lawson was given just two races to prove himself in the second seat alongside Verstappen at the start of 2025, Tsunoda was then also dropped at the end of the campaign.

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Tsunoda was replaced by Lawson's 2025 team-mate, Isack Hadjar, leaving the Japanese racer without a seat, taking up the reserve driver role instead.

But Tsunoda has sadly had minimal track time in 2026, something which he appeared to be keen to change by entering to race in an event in Adelaide as part of the GT World Challenge Australia.

Had the deal been agreed, Tsunoda would have raced for Tigani Motorsport in a Mercedes-AMG GT3 during the event which will take place from November 25 until November 29, but the event organisers have now confirmed that Tsunoda's drive was blocked by Red Bull.

GPFans have contacted Red Bull for comment.

Red Bull step in to stop Tsunoda drive

Both the Australian GT series and the GT World Challenge Europe series that Verstappen's own team recently picked up their first win in is run by the SRO Motorsports Group.

Speaking to Speedcafe, SRO Motorsports Australia chief Ben McMellan revealed that he is still looking to find a big-name driver to fill the seat Tsunoda was looking to take up in November, with the organisers keen to follow the trend of signing high-profile names.

"It’s obviously happened before with various categories," said McMellan when discussing the importance of getting a well known driver on board with competing at Adelaide.

"[Giancarlo] Fisichella was there one year in S5000 and Austin Cindric was there last year in Supercars.

"The government is very proactive in having a high-profile guest driver attend their events and for us we would love to have someone in a GT World Challenge car.

"Unfortunately we don’t have anyone locked in yet, but there’s plenty of conversations going on."

Tsunoda's ex-F1 team-mate has played a pivotal role in further proving this point, with the boost in event interest caused by his attendance at this year's Nurburgring 24 Hours even coined 'the Max Verstappen effect' in GT3 racing.

Even without the four-time F1 champion racing with the No.3 Mercedes-AMG Team Verstappen Racing entry, fans have continued to tune in to watch his squad compete in GT World Challenge Europe following the Dutchman's foray into the championship earlier this year.

"Anytime that you have a very high-profile driver involved in a series, it’s great because it brings increased exposure,” McMellan continued.

"There are more eyeballs on GT3 racing around the world than ever before with Max participating at Nurburgring.

"Even Max’s team racing with us in Europe at the moment, it’s probably brought more attention to GT3 racing than ever before," he concluded.

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