Former Colombian driver Juan Pablo Montoya has highlighted a worrying trend in Formula 1: just a month after the conclusion of the 2025 season, Yuki Tsunoda already seems forgotten by the paddock.
Verstappen’s teammates over the years
Over the last ten seasons at Red Bull, every driver who shared the Milton Keynes garage with Max Verstappen has had a brief or moderate stint. From the shortest spell of Liam Lawson, who was demoted to Racing Bulls last year after only two races, to Sergio Perez’s 90 Grand Prix appearances, still the record-holder in terms of race weekends for the team, the pattern is clear. Now, Isack Hadjar has been promoted from Racing Bulls to replace Yuki Tsunoda.
Tsunoda’s 2026
In 2025, the Japanese driver was called up by the Anglo-Austrian team to replace Lawson. However, his F1 career will not continue as a full-time driver, not even with Faenza, where he initially came from, but as a Red Bull test driver. As a result, the 25-year-old will not be on track for the 2026 season, with Racing Bulls instead fielding Arvid Lindblad, the only rookie on the grid.
A driver already forgotten
Since his F1 debut in 2021, Tsunoda has raced in over 100 Grands Prix but has never achieved a podium finish. Yet, his future now seems decided. This is the view of Juan Pablo Montoya, who in an interview with AS Colombia believes teams have already forgotten Red Bull’s test driver: “Look how sad Formula 1 is,” explained the seven-time race winner. “People don’t even think about Yuki anymore. It hasn’t even been a month since the last race, just a month and a week. Yuki isn’t even on anyone’s radar anymore. This is the reality of this sport. Some are heroes one day and zero the next. When you are a hero, you have to take advantage of it.”
Juan Pablo Montoya’s blunt assessment serves as a sobering reminder of the volatility inherent in a Formula 1 career, particularly within the high-pressure environment of the Red Bull ecosystem. While Yuki Tsunoda provided stability and flashes of brilliance for five seasons, the swift promotion of Isack Hadjar and Arvid Lindblad demonstrates that potential often carries more currency than established experience in the eyes of Helmut Marko and Christian Horner. For Tsunoda, the challenge now lies in remaining visible from the simulator and the reserve bench, proving Montoya wrong by forcing his way back onto a grid that is notoriously quick to look toward the next big thing.
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