Yuki Tsunoda is reportedly heading for the Red Bull exit door with Max Verstappen set to get a new team-mate for the 2026 season, provided he turns away interest from Mercedes and Toto Wolff. Tsunoda’s 2025 campaign has been challenging at best and miserable at worst. The 25-year-old has scored points on just three Grand Prix weekends, contributing just seven of the teams 172 total at the halfway point in the campaign.
He is the latest in a long line of Red Bull second-seat victims, following in the footsteps of Pierre Gasly, Alex Albon, Sergio Perez and his predecessor, Liam Lawson. According to a GPblog report, the decision has already been made to terminate Tsunoda’s contract at the end of the season, although he will remain in place until then.
With Helmut Marko wrestling more power from the departed Christian Horner, Red Bull are likely to look inward for their next F1 star. In doing so, they would have just three options. One of them is Lawson, who was removed from his seat after just two Grands Prix in 2025.
The New Zealander enjoyed a breakthrough weekend in Austria, finishing sixth after a composed drive, but his consistency has been below the level expected from him, and he has been routintely shown up by the man in pole position to become Verstappen’s next Red Bull team-mate.
Isack Hadjar entered the 2025 season as something of a wildcard. His seat on the grid materialised by coincidence as the late decision to sack Perez generated an opening at Racing Bulls. The decision to call him up now looks like a masterstroke, as the rookie has one fewer point than Lawson and Tsunoda combined.
Hadjar, for one, is open to the switch. “I don’t know what’s going on over there, obviously,” he said when asked about his former Racing Bulls team-mate’s struggles. “Only thing I can tell is Yuki is very fast.”
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He then added: “When I signed the contract with Red Bull four years ago, the goal was to get to Red Bull. So hasn’t changed. It’s definitely interesting. I like to, I would obviously love to, out of curiosity, go and have a look for myself.”
Then there is the wildcard option. Arvid Lindblad, 17, completed his first free practice session at the British Grand Prix and has been undergoing extensive TPC outings behind the scenes as he prepares to follow in Kimi Antonelli’s footsteps, ascending up the feeder series ladder at breakneck speed.
Despite his clear talent, there are doubts about how ready Lindblad is for the promotion. It would make more sense to put the teenager into the Racing Bulls environment, giving him time to adapt, rather than throwing him into Verstappen’s clutches from the outset.