Yuki Tsunoda has endured a difficult start to life at Red Bull Racing, and his former team-mate Pierre Gasly has hinted that there could be more to his struggles than meets the eye
Pierre Gasly has claimed that he ‘knows some stuff that can’t be said’ regarding the struggles of friend Yuki Tsunoda during his stint with Red Bull. The Japanese driver joined the Milton Keynes outfit following an extended successful spell with their sister team, but has struggled to produce the results they are after.
Since stepping up, Tsunoda has managed just 10 points for the team. That has left Max Verstappen as the only one regularly bringing in the results for the team, which has seen Red Bull slip to fourth in the constructors’ championship with 10 rounds to go in this 2025 season.
With the summer break now in full swing, Tsunoda finds himself enduring a seven-race run without finishing better than 12th, having managed just seven points for Laurent Mekies’ outfit since taking over from Liam Lawson two rounds into the campaign.
But remarks from ex-Red Bull racer Gasly suggest there could be more behind Tsunoda’s difficulties than appears obvious. “What is tricky is my time, a lot of things can’t be said, because you are a driver, you are working for a team and, as a professional, you cannot share all the information on the specific situations,” the Frenchman explained.
“Talking with Yuki, I know some stuff that cannot be said, and it is not easy. It is not easy to be in this situation. You try to do what is best for the team and sometimes you get given something to make it work, and sometimes you are in a situation where, for different reasons, it cannot quite work the way you like.
“So, knowing from experience, I just try to chat as a friend and just advise on stuff that may help him. And I think ultimately, it is up to him and the team to make it work and do the right things for it to work.”
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Tsunoda’s difficulties have sparked worries about his immediate prospects within the team. Lawson’s brief two-race stint proved that Red Bull aren’t hesitant to shake up their driver line-up mid-season, and the Japanese racer’s results have fallen far short of what was hoped.
With 10 races left in 2025, Tsunoda finds himself languishing in 18th position out of 21 competitors in the drivers’ championship. As only Verstappen is consistently bagging points, Red Bull are 42 adrift of Mercedes in third place ahead of them.
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Nevertheless, for the time being, Tsunoda continues to enjoy backing from team boss Mekies. “The priority is to give Yuki what he needs to perform,” the team principal stated in Hungary. “That is where, with regards to the second seat, that is where the priority is. It is what the team is concentrated on.
“They have been trying that for a number of races now. We are trying to find ways together to make a further step. You know, Spa was very positive, certainly from that perspective. Here it is a bit of a tricky weekend overall, so it is probably a bit more difficult to judge. But there is no reason why Yuki’s performance cannot be what we have seen in the past.”