Schumacher says Tsunoda could be out by end of year

Jul.3 (GMM)  Yuki Tsunoda’s long-anticipated promotion to the senior Red Bull team may ultimately lead to his exit from Formula 1, according to former F1 driver Ralf Schumacher.

With Red Bull figures becoming increasingly critical of the Japanese driver’s performance, Schumacher believes the writing is on the wall.

Despite Tsunoda’s struggles, the team has already replaced one driver this season — dropping Liam Lawson early in 2025 — and appears reluctant to make another mid-season change, likely to allow rising star Isack Hadjar more time to mature at Racing Bulls.

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

Tsunoda, 25, has been in the cockpit of Red Bull's second F1 team since 2021, but with Honda’s support ending later this year, Schumacher sees little to secure his future.

“He's a long, long way behind (Max) Verstappen,” Schumacher told Sky Deutschland.

“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, who recently turned 50, said he always had doubts about Tsunoda’s ability to outperform Liam Lawson — who had a brief but underwhelming two-race stint at Red Bull earlier this year.

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

One rumour suggests Honda may try to leverage its continued support of Tsunoda to place him at Aston Martin, potentially replacing Lance Stroll. But Schumacher isn’t convinced.

“I don't think so,” he said. “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.”]]>