DECEMBER 30, 2024

Horner admits to letting Yuki go at end of 2025

Christian Horner has finally admitted Red Bull could let Yuki Tsunoda go at the end of 2025 if a promotion of the Japanese driver to the company’s main team isn’t secured for the following year. For the last two years, aware that his chances of being promoted to the Milton Keynes-based team weren’t great, Tsunoda has been trying to get a release from his contract with Red Bull but his requests have been always denied by the team’s management.

Alpine, Audi and Haas all opened negotiations with Tsunoda’s management early in the 2024 season, offering long-term contracts to the Japanese driver, but with his path forward blocked by Horner and Helmut Marko, the youngster had to remain for an extra year with Racing Bulls. Next year will be his fifth with the Faenza-based team, making Tsunoda the longest standing driver in the team’s history, since it was purchased by Dietrich Mateschitz almost 20 years ago.

Speaking during the announcement of Liam Lawson’s promotion to Red Bull Racing, Christian Horner admitted that, “we're acutely aware that if we're not able to provide an opportunity for Yuki this year, does it make sense to keep him? You can't have a driver in the support team for five years. You can't always be the bridesmaid. You've either got to let them go at that point or look at something different.”

During his meeting with British media Horner explained he had “talked to Yuki”, adding that, “he said he was enjoying having some wagyu beef while he was on his time out, but his motivation was to demonstrate that he warrants that opportunity. I think he's very determined. He knows that things change very quickly. Who would've thought nine months ago we'd be sitting here talking about Liam Lawson being our driver for 2025?
In conclusion, Horner insisted that, “things change quickly in this industry and he's aware of that and knows that he needs to be the one demonstrating that he's the one knocking on the door.”