Everything to know about Yuki Tsunoda’s F1 career amid the Red Bull driver swap

Yuki Tsunoda will replace Liam Lawson at Red Bull for the Japanese Grand Prix next week following poor performances from the New Zealand driver. Partnering Max Verstappen is a tricky task on its own, but the RB21 has been prone to unpredictable handling, which has proved difficult for Lawson in the opening two rounds of the season. The second seat at Red Bull has also been a tough place for other F1 drivers, with the likes of Pierre Gasly, Alex Albon and Daniel Ricciardo already falling victim to its so-called ‘curse’ over the past decade. 

Tsunoda, in his fifth year of F1, has spent his entire career at Red Bull’s junior team, and is finally being afforded the opportunity to prove himself alongside a four-time world champion. Here’s everything to know about him. 

The Japan native was born in 2000 and started competing in the JAF Junior Karting Championship at age 10. His career quickly took off after he graduated from Honda’s Suzuka Circuit Racing School in 2016 and made his single-seater debut in Japanese Formula 4. Less than five years later, he would find himself on the F1 grid. 

When Tsunoda arrived in Europe in 2019, he didn’t speak English and had very little knowledge of the circuits on the F1 calendar. However, he quickly got up to speed and impressed Red Bull bosses with a phenomenal Formula 2 campaign that saw him finish third in the championship, with three victories along the way. With Honda’s backing, he secured a seat at Alpha Tauri (now Racing Bulls) in 2021.

As a rookie, he struggled with consistency, and his then-team-mate Gasly regularly out-performed him. The Frenchman often qualified in the top six and ended the season in ninth, while Tsunoda finished 14th in the championship. He improved the following year but still lagged behind Gasly, as the team struggled throughout the season with an uncompetitive car. 

Yuki Tsunoda, AlphaTauri

Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool

In 2023, Tsunoda consistently outperformed Nyck De Vries, both in qualifying and race pace. The Dutch driver was unceremoniously axed after 10 races and replaced by Ricciardo, whose pace was fairly on-par with Tsunoda. The youngster proved himself with strong performances against the veteran Australian, who was once believed to be world champion material, until he was also dumped mid-season in 2024. Lawson, who stepped up from his reserve driver role when Ricciardo was dropped, quickly impressed in the midfield car often matching Tsunoda’s pace. 

When it came time to replace a flailing Sergio Perez, viewers were convinced that Tsunoda had earned the Red Bull seat, not only because of his improvement over the previous four seasons, but because he and Lawson were largely like-for-like. However, the Kiwi was promoted ahead of him, seeming to indicate that the energy drinks company sees Lawson as its future.

Tsunoda has since stepped into a team leader role alongside 20-year-old rookie Isack Hadjar. It’s the first time that the 24-year-old has been the clear number one driver at the Italian outfit, and Red Bull higher-ups seem to have taken notice. Already, he’s scored three points this season, and sits 13th in the drivers’ standings going into Japan.  So, news that he’d swap places with Lawson at his home race wasn’t all that surprising, given the team’s history of switching drivers and an apparent ‘curse’ placed on the second Red Bull seat after Ricciardo’s departure at the peak of his career in 2018, seeking a new challenge at Renault after it became clear that the team was placing its future championship hopes on Verstappen. It’s been a revolving door of drivers ever since. 

Gasly was promoted from Toro Rosso in 2019, but was demoted mid-season. Albon replaced him but struggled with consistency and was well off Verstappen’s pace. Perez, who joined in 2021, helped his team-mate secure his first world title, and won a handful of races. However, the Mexican’s performance quickly dropped off, and by 2024, he was significantly off the pace. Only time will tell if Tsunoda has what it takes to break the curse.