RB Keeps Yuki Tsunoda for 2025 F1 season

Red Bull’s second team – Visa Cash App RB, better known as RB – has exercised an option to retain Yuki Tsunoda for the 2025 Formula 1 season.

Tsunoda, 24, debuted with the squad under its AlphaTauri guise in 2021 and has gradually emerged as one of the standout drivers in Formula 1’s midfield.

Tsunoda has scored 19 of RB’s 24 points so far this year courtesy of five top 10 finishes, including at each of the last three grands prix.

Red Bull Racing confirmed earlier this week that Sergio Perez will stay at the main team through 2026 and Tsunoda’s spot at RB for 2025 was announced at the Canadian Grand Prix on Saturday.

“I’m very happy to be staying with the team and it’s a good feeling to have my future decided so early in the year,” Tsunoda said. “The team has a big development project ahead and I’m excited to be part of it. It’s great to know that everyone appreciates all the hard work I have put in and that the team believes I can help it move further up the grid.

“We have already made clear progress this season and that really motivates me to always give of my best and that’s what I’ll continue to do with the team. For the moment, I’m concentrating on the remaining races this season, with the aim of bringing home as many points as possible, always growing with the team, laying the groundwork to do even better next year.”

RB’s Team Principal Laurent Mekies praised the progress made by Tsunoda.

“The step up he has made this year is simply phenomenal, and he keeps surprising us all, race after race,” Mekies said. “There’s no doubting his natural speed to which he has now added a much more mature approach and this combination makes him a very quick and consistent performer, and a great team player.

“We continue to get a better understanding of what he needs from us and vice versa, so we are progressing together, Yuki as a driver and the team. We share the same ambitions, so there are several good reasons to continue our journey together.”

Tsunoda’s renewal for 2025 raises the pressure on teammate Daniel Ricciardo.

Saturday marks 10 years to the day since Ricciardo brilliantly claimed his maiden grand prix victory in Canada, but recent seasons have been lean for the popular Australian.

Ricciardo has scored only one top 10 finish in a grand prix since his mid-2023 comeback, with his five points this year coming in the Miami Sprint Race, and he has been overshadowed by Tsunoda.

Ricciardo faces competition from within in the form of test and reserve driver Liam Lawson, the 22-year-old New Zealander who performed well during his five-race spell as a stand-in for the injured Ricciardo in 2023.