F1 team boss: “They announced the squad so late out of respect for him”

Racing Bulls team boss Alan Perman said that the delay in announcing the driver lineup for the 2026 season was made out of respect for Yuki Tsunoda.

Tsunoda has struggled with Red Bull’s senior team and it has become clear that he will not remain with Max Verstappen at the end of the 2025 season and will be replaced by Isak Hajjar.

At the same time, Tsunoda was considered a candidate to return to Racing Bulls, where current driver Liam Lawson and Formula 2 debutant Arvid Lindblad were jockeying for the position.

The final decision was announced after the Qatar Grand Prix: Lawson and Lindblad were selected for Racing Bulls, and Tsunoda was appointed to the role of third and reserve driver in both teams.

Perman, who is entering his first season as team principal, explained that the decision was postponed to avoid distraction during the Constructors’ Championship race.

“To be honest, it was a matter of delay. At first we said the announcement would come after Mexico, then we decided to calm things down a bit,” Perman said.

“The reason for this was that Red Bull was in a fierce battle for the constructors’ championship. Racing Bulls was in a fierce battle for the constructors’ championship, so we did not want to talk about it any further. Then when we came to Qatar, we made a decision and announced it out of respect for Yuki. To be honest, [это было] “So he can race his last race with Red Bull Racing and I’m sure it doesn’t mean it’s his last race in Formula 1.”