Yuki Tsunoda reveals 'couple of teams reached out' before committing to VCARB

Yuki Tsunoda has revealed that a 'couple of teams reached out' before he decided to commit to VCARB for the 2025 F1 season.

Tsunoda has enjoyed a strong campaign for VCARB, generally out-performing veteran teammate Daniel Ricciardo.

Despite his good form in the first half of the year, Tsunoda wasn’t thought to be in contention to replace Sergio Perez at Red Bull.

Tsunoda reportedly attracted interest from Sauber/Audi as they assessed options if they missed out on Carlos Sainz.

Speaking on the latest episode of the Beyond the Grid podcast, Tsunoda reflected on his impressive season so far.

“Keep doing what I am doing I guess. I started to show my value this year from the beginning of the season,” he said. 

“Also a couple of teams reached [out] to me and talked about different directions. I never had that things last year, especially first years. Just need to consistently keep delivering the results.

“So far I am able to achieve that but this is the first year I am showing my full potential, good results, consistently. I know that there’s a lot of things I can improve.

“Still a lot of things to come from myself. Just have to show to every team principal or every team that I am a good driver and I can achieve a lot of things.”

Despite being overlooked by Red Bull again, Tsunoda insists his “main priority” is the Milton Keynes outfit.

“The main priority is Red Bull Racing,” he added. “It’s one thing I am aiming since I joined F1. The car is one of the fastest cars right now. I mean, currently, probably McLaren is a little bit faster.

“I just want to drive with their car at some point and show my potential to drive top four, top three, top two, whatever. At the same time, if that can’t be achieved or maybe they’re happy with the drivers.

“Also I want to drive at some point in the consistent top five. Hopefully the VCARB will be able to achieve that. We are progressing a lot. We stepped a lot forward. I try to help them as much as possible.”

Tsunoda could be a potential Aston Martin target in the future, particularly as they will be powered by Honda in 2026.

The Japanese driver conceded that if another good opportunity comes up, he could consider it.

“Still, if another team might be interested or able to match how I think or what they think, then why not? But I am just focusing right now on what I have to do. Keep delivering the results to impress all of the people,” he concluded.