The Mexican Grand Prix forced Red Bull to make a decision, and Yuki Tsunoda ended up paying the price, drawing strong criticism from Jaques Villeneuve. During the first part of the season, the Austrian team experienced some turbulence. Liam Lawson began the year alongside Max Verstappen, substituting for Sergio Perez, but after just two races, he was demoted to VCARB. Red Bull then turned to Yuki Tsunoda, who has yet to convince the former F1 world champion.
In Mexico, Yuki Tsunoda finished the race in eleventh place, just outside the points, similar to his result in Austin. The team principal described Yuki Tsunoda’s weekend as positive, noting that his performance was affected by Verstappen’s race strategy. The team’s priority, after all, was to protect Verstappen from rivals.
Tsunoda fails to impress Villeneuve
For the Canadian driver, however, this is no excuse for the performances Yuki Tsunoda is showing. Villeneuve said: “I don’t understand how a team can say: ‘Oh, he had a good weekend.’ Yuki is still far behind his teammate. He’s not contributing anything positive in terms of pace, points for the team, or help for Max in the championship.”
He added: “He has a lot of experience. We’ve seen the best of him, but he’s already in decline, so it seems they are overprotecting him for some reason. But no, you can’t say it was a good weekend. Maybe it was the least bad, but it wasn’t a good weekend.”
Villeneuve also emphasized that Yuki Tsunoda’s five years of experience are not enough, particularly with the 2026 regulation changes approaching. “I agree that experience is needed, but it has to be good experience. It doesn’t matter if a driver has 20 years of racing behind him. If he hasn’t been competent or good enough, he won’t help you understand the new regulations.”
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