Yuki Tsunoda never had a fair chance at Red Bull Racing

It is clear that from day one, Red Bull felt they were stuck with Yuki Tsunoda. Tsunoda has never really been a Red Bull driver. Although the team made it appear in all communications that Tsunoda had truly joined the Red Bull family in 2021, everyone knew: Tsunoda belongs to Honda.

In 2021, it was evident Tsunoda was fast, but he found himself in the wall more often than Red Bull would have liked. Nevertheless, Tsunoda was surprisingly offered a new deal by the team. With the successful Honda engines in the back, Tsunoda was given the benefit of the doubt in the early years.

What confidence can do for a driver became clear. Tsunoda performed better year after year, becoming the leader of AlphaTauri and later Racing Bulls. Red Bull tried hard to prove that Tsunoda was not the leader, but Tsunoda beat all his teammates.

First, Nyck de Vries was brought in to provide calm and experience to the team, but he was outdriven by the Japanese. Then, multiple race winner Daniel Ricciardo returned, but he could not match Tsunoda either. The same was true for Liam Lawson.

Despite Tsunoda's good performance, it was not he who was given the chance at Red Bull Racing when Sergio Perez was fired, but Liam Lawson. Then, a column appeared on GPblog as to why Tsunoda deserved the seat over Lawson. After two races with Lawson, Red Bull came to the same conclusion.

After four years with Racing Bulls, Tsunoda was ready for a step up. He had been the fastest on the team for years and if anyone deserved to move up, it was Tsunoda. Now, he was preparing with Racing Bulls and after two races was still thrown into the Red Bull car, together with a large sum of money from Honda.

It's an opportunity, but a fair one? Definitely not. Then Tsunoda should have been given the time to get used to the RB21 during preparation. Without that preparation, he still performed better than Liam Lawson, which makes the earlier choice for him even more painful.

According to Red Bull, Tsunoda has the chance to prove himself until the end of the season, but everyone has known for a long time what GPblog brought exclusively on Tuesday: Tsunoda is out.

Honda is departing at the end of the season, and Tsunoda can start looking for a new employer. Honda was the only one who believed in Tsunoda, Red Bull pretended when it suited them.

Since season one, Red Bull has not fully believed in Tsunoda, and this is primarily due to his attitude off the track. After year one, he had to be moved to Italy, almost into the house of Franz Tost, to learn how to live for the sport. The lack of professionalism in this regard has often been criticised over the years.