Tsunoda set for Red Bull reserve role in 2026 as Hadjar earns Verstappen pairing
Yuki Tsunoda’s Red Bull story isn’t over, but the next chapter won’t be on the grid. The team confirmed its 2026 line-up on Tuesday, promoting Isack Hadjar to partner Max Verstappen while moving Tsunoda into a test and reserve role for the new rules era. Over at Racing Bulls, Liam Lawson stays on and British teenager Arvid Lindblad steps up from the junior ranks.
It’s a ruthless call, very Red Bull, but not a cold one. Team principal Laurent Mekies went out of his way to credit Tsunoda for how far he’s come across a seven-year stint in the Red Bull system and five seasons in Formula 1.
“Through his five seasons so far in Formula 1, Yuki has matured into a complete racer,” Mekies said, highlighting Tsunoda’s one-lap punch, trademark rocket starts and increasingly tidy race craft. “Everyone in the sport would agree it’s impossible not to like Yuki — his personality is infectious — and he’s become a very special part of the Red Bull family.”
Tsunoda’s 2025 campaign has been defined by the tallest of yardsticks. After an early-season promotion from Racing Bulls into Red Bull colours, he’s had to live with direct comparison to Verstappen, now a four-time world champion. The Japanese driver has shown progress and flashes of menace, but matching Verstappen’s relentless baseline was always a big ask. One more outing in Abu Dhabi awaits before he pivots to development duties.
The decision to elevate Hadjar, though, says everything about where Red Bull’s head is at for 2026. The Frenchman arrives after a single F1 season but with momentum — including a maiden podium at Zandvoort — and the kind of raw speed the team prizes when it rolls the dice.
“In his first F1 season, [Isack] has displayed great maturity and proved to be a quick learner,” said Mekies. “Most importantly, he has demonstrated the raw speed that is the number one requirement in this sport. We believe Isack can thrive alongside Max and produce the magic on track.”
There’s also a bigger backdrop here: 2026 ushers in sweeping technical changes, and Red Bull will be a true factory operation with Red Bull Ford Powertrains. It’s a brave new world even for serial winners, which makes keeping Tsunoda in-house as a development heavyweight a pragmatic move. He knows both sides of the Red Bull garage, speaks the same language as the engineers, and has the feel for setups that can speed up a concept car’s learning curve.
For Racing Bulls, the plan is classic pipeline: Lawson, who’s earned his stripes, anchors the team; Lindblad, the latest headliner from the academy, gets his shot. It’s continuity with a dash of daring — the way this system has always operated when it’s at its sharpest.
As for Tsunoda, this isn’t a door slamming shut so much as a sidestep in a constantly moving corridor. Red Bull’s reserve role isn’t ceremonial. With a new power unit philosophy to bed in, aero and chassis overhauls to chase, and a calendar that punishes the unprepared, a driver who can translate car behaviour into immediate next steps is worth his weight in tenths. If there’s a late call-up or a mid-season twist, we’ve seen this movie before: opportunities at Red Bull have a habit of arriving fast.
Mekies, who’s worked closely with Tsunoda across both Red Bull teams, made that point without saying it outright. “On behalf of everyone at Red Bull, I thank him for what he has contributed so far and we know he will provide invaluable support to the 2026 projects moving forwards.”
So Red Bull gets its bold front line — Verstappen and Hadjar — with Tsunoda as the trusted hand in the shadows. Racing Bulls gets Lawson-Lindblad, a duo that neatly balances proven reference points with future upside. And the rest of the grid gets a reminder that the Red Bull conveyor belt is still very much alive.
Abu Dhabi will be emotional for Tsunoda, and probably a little frustrating, too. But in a sport where timing is everything, staying embedded in the project that keeps winning might be the smartest move of all.
