Yuki Tsunoda looks back on his difficult spell at Red Bull: the Japanese driver felt completely drained and, at times, lost his enjoyment of Formula 1
What began as a great opportunity ended in a fiasco for Yuki Tsunoda in the 2025 Formula 1 season. After the Japanese driver was promoted from Racing Bulls to Red Bull following the second race, he endured a disappointing season as Max Verstappen’s team-mate, at the end of which he lost his place as a regular Formula 1 driver.
On the Beyond The Grid podcast, the Japanese driver has now spoken openly about how gruelling this situation was. “2025 was definitely the most difficult year of my career, but I learnt an enormous amount,” explains Tsunoda.
“Especially in the second half of the season, I started to really struggle. When I got home, I just felt completely drained,” the Japanese driver reports. “Normally, I manage to clear my head and regain that energy when I do something I really enjoy. But that feeling of energy just wouldn’t come back – and the races just went on and on and on.”
Tsunoda loses his enjoyment of Formula 1
As a result, Tsunoda even lost some of the enjoyment he’d always derived from what he loved doing most: racing. “At some point, I realised to myself: I’m not really enjoying my life at the moment. I’m not enjoying the situation and I probably don’t get the same enjoyment out of Formula 1 driving as I did in the first three years,” he says.
Whilst Verstappen went from strength to strength in the second half of the season and ultimately missed out on the world championship title by just two points, Tsunoda finished the season in 17th place. In this stressful situation, Tsunoda also sought professional help.
“I received a lot of support from a psychologist, my coach and many others. But the racing calendar was extremely packed in the second half, so it was a very difficult time,” he says. “At the same time, however, this year has given me the opportunity to reflect on myself much more deeply than ever before,” says Tsunoda, highlighting a positive aspect of this difficult period.
Why he now deals with pressure differently
“I can’t imagine ever experiencing as much pressure, such difficulties and such tough times again as I did in 2025,” he adds. “Compared to what it was like back then, everything so far feels like a pleasant challenge. Somehow, I now manage to enjoy precisely these moments of pressure, and I feel very comfortable doing so.”
This is evident in the current season. As a reserve driver for the Red Bull racing teams, Tsunoda returned to the Racing Bulls cockpit from the Dutch Grand Prix onwards, after Liam Lawson had replaced the injured Isack Hadjar at Red Bull. In his three appearances so far, the Japanese driver has performed creditably and scored points at Monza.
“Getting into a car I’ve never driven before, on top of that a sprint weekend – and the team is doing really well and sits fifth in the Constructors’ Championship,” says Tsunoda, looking back on his comeback at Zandvoort. “You can’t afford to mess up in the race; you want to pick up points. But somehow I just thought to myself: I feel completely fine, I don’t feel that much pressure anymore.”
