Schumacher predicts end of Tsunoda’s F1 career

Jul.3 (GMM) Yuki Tsunoda’s dream promotion to the Red Bull hot seat has paved the road for his Formula 1 exit.

That’s the view of former F1 driver Ralf Schumacher, who notes the ever more critical sounds about the Japanese driver’s performance from the mouths of Red Bull bosses’ mouths.

Nonetheless, having already demoted Liam Lawson early in 2025, the team is not now prepared to make another change – probably only to give heir-apparent Isack Hadjar more time to develop at Racing Bulls.

“A driver change doesn’t make sense anymore,” Red Bull consultant Dr Helmut Marko said after the Austrian GP.

As for 25-year-old Tsunoda, he’s been on the grid with the junior team since 2021 – and at the end of the year Red Bull loses the key backing provided by Honda.

It doesn’t bode well for the Japanese, Schumacher told Sky Deutschland.

“He’s a long, long way behind (Max) Verstappen,” the 6-time grand prix winner said.

“To be honest, and to sum it up briefly – if he doesn’t get it under control in the next few races, he’ll probably be out of Red Bull even before the end of the season.

“But I hope they don’t put Isack Hadjar next to Verstappen too soon and burn him out. That would be a huge mistake. The boy has a lot of potential.

“In my opinion, Tsunoda’s career is over. He’s just too far behind and is making mistakes now,” Schumacher added.

The German, who has just turned 50, admits that he suspected all along that Tsunoda would fare no better than Lawson, whose mere two race weekends at Red Bull early this year were abysmal.

“For me, there wasn’t that much of a difference in performance between Lawson and Hadjar at Racing Bulls,” Schumacher said. “And at Red Bull, he’s getting a real beating.”

One theory is that Honda will now use its sponsorship backing of Tsunoda to slot him into the Aston Martin seat that is currently occupied by team owner Lawrence Stroll’s oft-criticised son Lance.

“I don’t think so,” Schumacher insists.

“I’d say we won’t see Tsunoda in Formula 1 by the end of the year. The problem when you’re both slow and you’re breaking things is that teams quickly lose patience with that.”

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