Hiroki Tsunoda says he is “pissed off” at losing his Red Bull seat to Isak Hajar at the end of this season, and believes he can be proud of the pace he showed compared to teammate Max Verstappen.
Red Bull are set to promote Hajjar alongside Verstappen in 2026, with Liam Lawson and Arvid Lindblad forming the Racing Bulls line-up, with Tsunoda dropping to a reserve role. Tsunoda only received confirmation of the change from Red Bull team advisor Helmut Marko on Sunday night in Qatar, admitting that things have not yet completely sunk in as he prepares for his final race weekend for the time being, the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
“I’m obviously disappointed and angry,” Tsunoda said. “Right after the race, Helmut personally told me that he wouldn’t race next year.
“Surprisingly, I’m okay. Not okay, but… The next day, the next morning, I ordered breakfast, the same food as usual, and I probably don’t realize that this will be my last race, at least for next year. So maybe I’ll feel better after Abu Dhabi, but it’s passed and that’s how I feel now.”
Tsunoda said he is focused on keeping his seat at Red Bull as he is contractually unable to move elsewhere in 2026 and will try to use his spare time as productively as possible.
“I had no choice,” he said. “Actually, my contract was there, so I couldn’t do much in it. I had some external interests, but the contract didn’t allow me to really talk to them or anything. So I was completely focused on the Red Bull seat. And anyway, that’s been my priority for the last few years in the Red Bull family, because this is also where I grew up.”
“I’m excited to see it from a different perspective and with different eyes next year, because this is the first time in my career that I’m not racing. I’ve never sat in an office and worked while people were racing, so I can’t refer to it like this.”
“I’m looking forward to it because I can see more and have the (ability to listen) to what each driver is trying to do, so I might learn a lot of things that I didn’t imagine. I’ll also continue to try to stay as good as I can every time I get a chance. I’ll smash it with those chances. So until then, stay well and wait.”
Tsunoda was promoted to Red Bull to replace Lawson in two races this year after a strong showing with Racing Bulls, but admitted in the back of his mind he wished he had continued to perform with the junior team, even if he believed he was well suited compared to Verstappen’s pace.
“My only regret is missing out on that pretty good car at VCARB,” he said. “But it’s also like throwing away your child, your baby, because this car is a car that I developed with the team over the years since the regulations, and it definitely has my DNA in it as well.”
“So obviously missing that out and ultimately not being able to get to the level that I wanted to (resigning) is something I missed out on, but at the same time I don’t regret that decision.”
“Imola[the crash]is certainly still a very frustrating incident when I look back on it, because the crash that I had was very unnecessary… but it also certainly set me back in terms of parts.
“But at the same time, if you look at the whole season, especially the second half of the season, where I was in Q1, and[Verstappen]was always top three, top four, the results looked bad. But at the same time, just looking at the performance side, I can’t remember the last time I was four or five tenths off, even the times I got out of in Q1.”
“Once we got the exact same car, we were very competitive against him and I think that’s what this (Red Bull second) seat was struggling with. And actually I’m proud of how I’ve grown and how I’ve improved over the season.”
“Max has been here for many years now. He knows a lot about this car. Of course, there is no denying that he is the best driver on the grid, but at the same time I am happy that I was able to catch up so quickly at this level, especially in this very narrow field. This year is one of the narrowest fields in history.”
