Pink Bull hails Yuki Tsunoda’s “distinctive begins and wonderful racecraft” because it demotes him

Pink Bull crew principal Laurent Mekies keenly praised Yuki Tsunoda’s abilities as a Formulation 1 driver as his demotion to a take a look at and reserve function was introduced for 2026.

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Isack Hadjar will be a part of Max Verstappen at Pink Bull after a promising maiden F1 marketing campaign at Racing Bulls, whereas Tsunoda was in rivalry to accomplice rookie Arvid Lindblad within the Faenza-based outfit however misplaced out to incumbent Liam Lawson.

Tsunoda wasn’t helped by his dismal 2025 marketing campaign, having changed Lawson at Pink Bull after the primary two grands prix, so catastrophic was the New Zealander’s early kind. The Japanese racer was soundly outperformed by Verstappen in each qualifying and races, to the extent that he has scored simply 30 factors at Pink Bull, whereas the Dutchman goes right into a three-way title showdown with a tally of 396.

“Yuki has raced in Pink Bull colors for seven years now and I’ve had the pleasure of working with him at each Pink Bull groups,” Mekies stated. “Via his 5 seasons up to now in Formulation 1, Yuki has matured into a whole racer, good over a single lap on Saturday and able to distinctive begins and wonderful race craft on Sunday.”

Max Verstappen, Pink Bull Racing, Yuki Tsunoda, Pink Bull Racing Group, Laurent Mekies, Alpine

Picture by: Marco Bertorello / AFP through Getty Pictures

The wording is necessary right here. Tsunoda is “succesful” of the aforementioned racing feats. In different phrases, Mekies is conscious of this immense potential however his driver’s efficiency has not constantly been at that degree.

Mekies’ considerably extra reluctant acknowledgement of Tsunoda’s one-lap tempo – merely “good” – comes as he’s 25-1 down on Verstappen in qualifying, which interprets to 21-0 in non-sprint periods.

Depicting Tsunoda as a “full racer” consequently turns into contradictory.

“Everybody within the sport would agree it’s not possible to not like Yuki, his persona is infectious, and he has change into a really particular a part of the Pink Bull household,” the Frenchman added. “On behalf of everybody at Pink Bull, I thank him for what he has contributed up to now and we all know he’ll present invaluable assist to the 2026 tasks transferring forwards.”