Yuki Tsunoda will represent experience and continuity at Racing Bulls next year but, passed over for promotion, the Japanese looks to be running out of road at the Red Bull-owned Formula 1 team.
A flurry of Red Bull announcements culminated on Friday with 20-year-old Isack Hadjar confirmed as Tsunoda's teammate.
The Frenchman takes the seat vacated by New Zealander Liam Lawson, who joins four times champion Max Verstappen at the main team after Mexican Sergio Pérez was dropped.
Tsunoda, 24, will be starting his fifth year with the team previously known as AlphaTauri and RB and has close ties to Red Bull's engine partners Honda.
The Japanese manufacturer is leaving Red Bull at the end of 2025, however, to work with Aston Martin.
"We're acutely aware that if we're not able to provide an opportunity for Yuki [at Red Bull] in all honesty this year, does it [keeping him on] make sense?," Red Bull team boss Christian Horner told reporters.
"You can't have a driver in the support team for five years. You can't always be the bridesmaid. You've either got to let them go at that point or look at something different."
Horner said he had spoken with Tsunoda, a fan favourite currently enjoying time off in Japan, and the driver was determined to show what he could do.
"I think he's very determined. He knows that things change very quickly," the Briton said. "Who would have thought nine months ago that we'd be sitting here talking about Liam Lawson being our driver for 2025?
Yuki Tsunoda missed out on a drive with Red Bull in 2025. Mark Thompson/Getty Images"Things change quickly in this industry and he's aware of that and he knows that he needs to be the one demonstrating that he's the one knocking on the door."
Italy-based Racing Bulls, who have had several name changes after Red Bull bought Minardi in 2005 and renamed them Toro Rosso, have always been a feeder for the title-winning main Milton Keynes team.
Drivers to have come through their ranks include four times world champions Sebastian Vettel and Verstappen as well as race winners Daniel Ricciardo, Pierre Gasly and Carlos Sainz.
Hadjar is one of a group of young prospects coming into the sport and Red Bull also have Arvid Lindblad as an exciting talent on the horizon.
Horner rates the 17-year-old, who has both British and Swedish nationality, particularly highly after a strong rookie season in Formula 3 including a Silverstone double win.
Currently without a super-licence, Lindblad will be seeking the necessary points in New Zealand early next year before a full F2 season that could set him up for promotion in 2026 at Tsunoda's expense.
- Reuters
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