– What started as a great opportunity ended in a fiasco for Yuki Tsunoda in the 2025 Formula 1 season. After the Japanese driver was promoted from Racing Bulls to Red Bull following the second race, he experienced a disappointing season as Max Verstappen’s teammate, ultimately losing his seat as a regular driver in Formula 1.
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In the Beyond The Grid podcast, the Japanese driver spoke openly about how exhausting this situation was. “2025 was definitely the toughest year of my career, but I learned an enormous amount,” Tsunoda explains.
“Especially in the second half of the season, I started to struggle a lot. When I came home, I just felt extremely drained,” the Japanese driver reports. “Normally, I manage to clear my head and regain that energy by doing something I really enjoy. But that feeling of energy just didn’t come back – and the races just kept going, and going, and going.”
Tsunoda loses joy in Formula 1
As a result, Tsunoda even lost some of the joy in what he had always loved most: racing. “At some point, I realized for myself: I’m not really enjoying my life right now. I’m not enjoying the situation and probably no longer have the fun in Formula 1 driving that I had in the first three years,” he says.
While Verstappen grew stronger in the second half of the season and ultimately missed the world championship title by just two points, Tsunoda finished the season in 17th place. In this stressful situation, Tsunoda also sought professional help.
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“I received a lot of support from a psychologist, my coach, and many others. But the race calendar was extremely packed in the second half, so it was a very tough time,” he says. “At the same time, this year gave me the opportunity to engage with myself much more intensely than ever before,” Tsunoda highlights a positive aspect of this difficult time.
Why he now handles pressure differently
“I hardly believe I will ever experience as much pressure, such difficulties, and such hard times as in 2025 again,” he adds. “Compared to what was, everything so far feels like a nice challenge. Somehow, I now manage to enjoy exactly these pressure moments, and I feel very comfortable with it.”
This is evident in the current season. As a reserve driver for the Red Bull racing teams, Tsunoda returned to the Racing Bulls cockpit from the Dutch Grand Prix onwards after Liam Lawson replaced the injured Isack Hadjar at Red Bull. In his three appearances so far, the Japanese driver performed admirably and scored points in Monza.
“Getting into a car I had never driven before, plus a sprint weekend – and the team is doing really well and is fifth in the constructors’ standings,” Tsunoda looks back on his comeback in Zandvoort. “You can’t mess up the race; you want to take points. But somehow I just thought: I feel completely okay, I don’t really feel much pressure anymore.”
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