Yuki Tsunoda in Red Bull: the ‘boost’ from Pierre Gasly and Takaaki Nakagami on Instagram. Pierre Gasly and Takaaki Nakagami celebrate Yuki Tsunoda's promotion to Red Bull.

A great opportunity for the Japanese driver
It’s official: starting from his home Grand Prix in Japan at Suzuka, Yuki Tsunoda will be a Red Bull driver. Born in 2000, the Japanese driver made his debut in F3 in 2019, moved to F2 in 2020, and finished the championship in third place. Since 2021, he has been racing in F1 as an AlphaTauri-Racing Bulls driver, and now he finally has the great opportunity to race for a top team, although Yuki Tsunoda is joining a Red Bull that is a far cry from the one that dominated F1 just 12 months ago.

Liam Lawson’s underwhelming performances in Australia and China pushed Red Bull’s management to immediately swap the two drivers, despite having initially decided to bet on the New Zealander in the head-to-head between the two at the end of 2024. Lawson was not given time, and the seat swap was fiercely criticized by Giedo van der Garde, with Max Verstappen sharing these criticisms.

The four-time world champion was not the only one active on social media this morning, when the official confirmation of the seat swap between Yuki Tsunoda and Lawson was, unsurprisingly, the news of the day. Pierre Gasly and Takaaki Nakagami commented on the Instagram post in which Tsunoda announced his move to Red Bull, sharing a picture of himself in the Milton Keynes team’s racing suit. “I can’t wait,” wrote fellow countryman Takaaki Nakagami, who this year is merely a Honda test rider after several seasons as a full-time MotoGP rider. “Looking sharp” was Pierre Gasly’s comment in English, which could be translated as a calm “you look ready” or a more spirited “looking tough.” Gasly was Tsunoda’s teammate at AlphaTauri and knows what it means to be a Red Bull driver alongside Max Verstappen. The Frenchman lasted half a season in 2019 before being replaced by Alexander Albon.