Yuki Tsunoda wants Red Bull to ‘change their mind’ with F1 2025 pitch

Yuki Tsunoda hopes his performances will help convince Red Bull he deserves a seat with them for the 2025 F1 season.

The RB driver impressed as he qualified seventh at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, just two places behind Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.

Tsunoda’s result came as Sergio Perez suffered his sixth Q1 elimination of the season with a lap time only good enough for 16th on the grid.

Despite holding a contract for next year, Perez remains under huge pressure to retain his seat as he continues to underperform alongside Verstappen, with Red Bull boss Christian Horner admitting that the team could yet change their driver line-up for 2025.

So far, Tsunoda has been overlooked as a candidate by Red Bull, with teammate Liam Lawson and Williams stand-in Franco Colapinto viewed as more likely replacements for Perez if a change was made.

When asked what he needs to do to show Red Bull he is ready to step up to the senior team, Tsunoda told Sky Sports F1: “If I knew that I would do it right now after this interview.

“Those things I can’t control. All I can control is my performance like I’m showing this year so far.

“I trust myself and show my consistent results as much as possible and hopefully they’ll change their mind.

“I’ll do as much as I can and I know what I can do when I step into Red Bull.

"But for now I just need to prepare as much as possible, show the results and let them decide.”

Tsunoda, who outperformed Daniel Ricciardo - Red Bull’s original back-up option for Perez - voiced his frustration about his recurring Red Bull omission ahead of the weekend.

“Some of the stories are already happening from when Daniel was my team-mate,” Tsunoda told media in Las Vegas. “Liam came in and suddenly he’s up.

“So, to be honest, it’s just the usual story in that team, or in the Red Bull family.”