Yuki Tsunoda says he’d be surprised if Franco Colapinto
wasn’t on Red Bull’s list for 2025, amidst rumours the Williams driver could
join him at VCARB.
Red Bull are in the midst of a game of musical chairs when
it comes to the driver line-ups for their two F1 teams.
Could Yuki Tsunoda have another new team-mate in F1 2025?
It started five weeks ago when they dropped Daniel Ricciardo
to make space for Liam Lawson, giving the New Zealander six races in which to
show Red Bull what he can do.
But what started out as a VCARB audition has become bigger
with Lawson said to be in the running to replace Sergio Perez as Max
Verstappen’s 2025 team-mate. And if that happens, Colapinto – if Williams agree
to part ways with the Argentinean – could join Tsunoda at VCARB.
Colapinto has excelled in his brief run with Williams, since
replacing the ousted Logan Sargeant after the American failed to score a point
in his 15 starts in F1 2024.
“He’s definitely doing a good job,” Tsunoda said when
quizzed about the Colapinto rumours in Brazil. “To be honest, I don’t know much
about those things. And yeah, I didn’t see much.
“Yeah, definitely. It’s actually, if it’s not an option,
I’ll be surprised, right? Because he’s doing well and he don’t have a seat so
far for next season.
“And if he’s fast, I’m thinking for all the teams he will be
an option who don’t have selected a seat yet for next year.”
How the F1 grid is shaping up
Colapinto to Red Bull is ‘complicated’ says World Champ
Red Bull’s star driver Max Ver also weighed in on
Colapinto joining the Red Bull family, calling it “complicated” due to his ties
to Williams.
But whatever happens, he hopes Colapinto has shown all the
teams on the grid that they can trust rookie drivers to do the job in F1.
“It’s complicated to answer that because he’s still
contracted to Williams,” said the reigning World Champion. “And of course, he’s
doing a great job. I think also Williams is probably scratching their heads a
bit about what to do with Franco.
“But for me personally, it just shows that I think teams in
general just need to be more open to put young talents in and trust them.
Because now you have this kind of situation where he’s a Williams junior and
potentially has to leave or try to find luck elsewhere, right? While, they
could have put him in the car.
“So, yeah, it’s complicated. I mean, whatever he decides or his management decides to do, I mean, does he deserve a spot on the grid? I think with what he has shown so far, yes. But, yeah, it’s not easy to find a spot at the moment.”
