Yuki Tsunoda says his biggest 2025 mistake at Red Bull was trying to replicate Max Verstappen’s setup

Yuki Tsunoda has reflected on his time at Red Bull in 2025, telling the official F1 podcast Beyond the Grid that his biggest mistake was trying to copy Max Verstappen’s approach to the car rather than sticking to his own driving style. Tsunoda, who was Red Bull’s reserve driver in 2026, lost his race seat at the end of last year after a difficult campaign in which he scored points only sporadically during 21 Grands Prix.

Tsunoda explained that he did not believe he needed to change how he drove, adding that he even considered trying to do something similar to Verstappen only after his first full year away from relative success with Racing Bulls under their various guises. He then said that, looking back, the biggest problem was to try to replicate the setup Verstappen was running, a distinction he drew between learning from a World Champion and overhauling his own fundamentals.

The 2025 comparison was stark in the late-season run cited in the discussion: Verstappen won five of the final eight races, while Tsunoda recorded a P6, P7 and P10 finish in the same period. According to the account, that contributed to Tsunoda losing his seat, with Isack Hadjar promoted to Racing Bulls to replace him.

In 2026, Tsunoda has made three race appearances for Racing Bulls in place of Liam Lawson after Hadjar’s injury. The podcast review highlighted Zandvoort, where the Sprint format meant Tsunoda had only one practice session to adapt to a new generation of cars, and he finished 11th in the Sprint race, one place ahead of his teammate. At Monza, he finished 10th and scored a point, which the discussion said helped Racing Bulls in their fight against Alpine.

Tsunoda also indicated that his focus remains securing a full-time Formula 1 drive for next season, aiming to be back in 2027 while emphasizing that he is trying to maximize the opportunities he has been given.

Written by Vancouver Television Sports Desk