Red Bull F1

Tsunoda still 'not good enough' as Red Bull closes on 2026 decision
Red Bull says Yuki Tsunoda's performances are still 'not good enough' ahead of the likely crunch decision weekend for finalising its 2026 F1 line-up

 

Red Bull management must have realised by now that nobody is good enough to be paired with Max Verstappen.
Whatever the circumstances, Max always extract more of his car than his team mate.

 

A RedBull with a Big Mac.

Partnership with "Meeky-Dees" (Mcdonalds). The Mcdonalds logo appears at InterlagosGP.

I can see a commercial already where the RB7 drives thru the drive-thru to make an order. Max at the wheel.

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You mean Mekies D's

 

Mekies’ Ferrari-style approach key to Red Bull revival
Oct.23 (GMM) Red Bull’s sudden return to form after Christian Horner’s dismissal has not gone unnoticed by anyone – least of all by those who once worked alongside the ousted team boss.

Writing in La Gazzetta dello Sport, technical analyst Paolo Filisetti described what has actually changed inside Milton Keynes since Mekies’ arrival. He noted that from Monza onward – coinciding with the debut of a new floor and the team’s adoption of Ferrari-style simulator setup routines – Red Bull began preparing its baseline setup far more precisely before each weekend.
https://www.gptours.com/gr_news/mekies-ferrari-style-approach-key-to-red-bull-revival/

RBR appears to make Ferrari-style work better than Ferrari!!

 

No blame culture as Mercedes have. Friday setup by listening to Max finally and continued upgrades with a new wing on front and floor. This all to give Max the confidence that as many think they will be weak early in 2026, the team can develop to improve. Something that was lacking under Horner. It also questions why Wache was not more forthcoming with information or having more influence. Have a tech based/engineer with good management skills like Mekies is paying off. He also does not run the Power Trains and anything else Horner had 'responsibility' for lol. They fired him and improved. Do 'the math' on that.

 

Even a rookie beat Tsunoda! That car number one is a rocket! No wonder Verstappen wins easily.

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Red Bull postpones 2026 F1 driver decisions: where do things stand now?
Helmut Marko and Laurent Mekies confirm that Red Bull has postponed its driver choices for 2026 until around the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix as full focus shifts to the F1 title fight with Max Verstappen

 

Spot on. Move on and put Hadjar in the car at Yas. Send Yuki back Sakura and see a dentist lol.

Autosport - Red Bull is “overprotecting” Tsunoda given how bad he’s been – Villeneuve
Laurent Mekies praised Yuki Tsunoda’s “best weekend in a long time” at the Mexico GP, but Jacques Villeneuve is adamant it was at best “his least bad”
Ben Vinel
Edited: Oct 30, 2025, 6:04 PM

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Yuki Tsunoda, Red Bull Racing, Laurent Mekies, Racing Bulls Team Principal

Photo by: Kym Illman (Getty Images)

The 1997 world champion Jacques Villeneuve has hit back at suggestions Yuki Tsunoda has been performing better in Formula 1, suggesting Red Bull has been “overprotecting” him.

Although he’s down 21-0 to Max Verstappen in their qualifying head-to-head, Tsunoda had one of his best performances so far at the Mexico Grand Prix, with ‘just’ a 0.211s deficit to Red Bull’s lead car as he went out in Q2.

In the race, a delayed pitstop aimed at hindering Verstappen’s rivals cost Tsunoda a likely ninth place – or a potential top six/seven, the Japanese racer has claimed – with Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies owning up to ‘killing a few points [Tsunoda] would have scored on merit’.

“Yuki had his best weekend in a long time,” the Frenchman insisted. “We have said that a few times, but it is true.”

Villeneuve, however, strongly disagreed with Mekies’ stance on Sky Sports’ F1 Show podcast.

“I don't understand how a team can say, ‘Oh, he's had a good weekend’. Better than maybe other weekends he's had, but is it a good weekend?” he rhetorically pondered.

“He's still very far off his team-mate. He's not bringing anything to the table either in pace, points for the team, or helping Max for the championship.

“And he has a lot of experience. We've seen the best of him, he's already on the way down, so it seems that they're overprotecting him for some reason.

“But no, you can't say that was a good weekend. It was maybe his least bad, but it wasn't a good weekend.”

As Red Bull keeps pondering options to pick Verstappen’s team-mate for F1’s new technical era in 2026, Tsunoda’s five seasons’ worth of experience doesn’t mean much to Villeneuve.

“We all talk about, in a situation like this, ‘you need experience’ – and yes, I agree, but you need good experience,” the Canadian argued.

“It doesn't matter if a driver has 20 years of racing. If he wasn't good or good enough, he still won't be good enough, and he still won't help you to understand the new regulations. He still won't help you to develop and test that car, so why would you put a known quantity that you know is not good enough?

“In that case, you might as well go for the young rookie or left-field, take someone and take a chance that will bring new energy and a new thought process to the team. What you already have, you know it won't cut it.”

Current Racing Bulls driver Isack Hadjar is the favourite to get the second Red Bull seat for 2026, following an impressive rookie F1 season that included a podium finish at Zandvoort. He currently lies 10th in the standings, while Tsunoda is down in 17th, with 39 points to 28.

 

Red Bull Racing will launch the RB22, Max Verstappen’s new F1 car, on January 15, 2026, with the event taking place in Detroit, USA, home to the headquarters of new engine partner, Ford.

 

The real RB22 will be launched on day 1 of testing.

 

The real RB-22 will be at Australia GP March 8th