Tsunoda or Lawson: Red Bull’s 2025 Dilemma Deepens
Dec.16 - Yuki Tsunoda pre-empted a flurry of questions about his future whilst appearing at a Honda event in Tokyo.
"No questions about next season, as we have been advised," the Japanese told reporters.
The Japanese, who tested the title-winning Red Bull Racing car just after the Abu Dhabi season finale, is considered an outside chance to replace Sergio Perez at the team from 2025.
In Rwanda for the end-of-season FIA prize gala, Red Bull team boss Christian Horner admitted the underperforming Mexican, Perez, could lose the seat - with Tsunoda and Liam Lawson the only real candidates.
Some believe it is Tsunoda's unpredictable personality behind the wheel, and inconsistency, that has made Lawson the favourite. Others think Tsunoda is simply too closely aligned with Honda.
"I think he will go with Honda to Aston Martin in 2026, in (Lance) Stroll's place," Rick Wilkelman, a journalist for Ziggo Sport, said.
Indeed, Tsunoda's name already appears on a leaked version of the 2025 official FIA entry list, driving again for Red Bull's second team, to be renamed Racing Bulls.
The identity of his 2025 teammate was not listed, whilst Perez's name appears as the continuing driver for Red Bull Racing - as he already has a contract.
But strong rumours suggest Red Bull is currently negotiating the terms of Perez's split, which is expected to be announced as a mutual decision.
"The deal is done," claims another Ziggo Sport reporter, Jack Plooij. "I've heard he (Perez) is saying 'I'm quitting, it's over'. The only problem is the money. He wants to see money.
"I think Perez has said 'First you make sure the money is there, and then I will announce it."
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Firstly, the initial entry list wasn't leaked but was released officially by the FIA, so nothing weird about that.
However, I'm positive Checo will indeed leave regardless of whether the decision is mutual or his solely.
Whether Yuki would replace Lance is another matter, although Lawrence can simply decide against letting Lance continue yet again, so possible in this regard.
I'm not surprised at all that he was advised not to talk about next season yet in the Honda event in Tokyo over the weekend, which he attended coinciding with his regular stay in his region for part of each off-season period.
I'm slightly surprised about the 'we' word, though, unless that's a mistranslation since direct word-by-word translations from Japanese to English & vice versa are effectively impossible for the most part.
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