Eddie Jordan “can promise you” that Yuki Tsunoda is merely a Formula 1 driver in order for Red Bull to satisfy Honda, not because of the talents of the Visa Cash App RB star.
The 23-year-old signed a new 12-month deal and will compete in his fourth season with the Faenza team this year. Since his debut in Formula 1, Tsunoda has only ever driven on one-year contracts. Red Bull, however, has seen enough to keep the Japanese treasure every year.
Alongside teammate Daniel Ricciardo, Tsunoda will now support the Faenza group as they make the switch from AlphaTauri to Visa Cash App RB in 2024. This year, the parent Red Bull company made the decision to secure title sponsorship for the junior team, which was formerly known as Toro Rosso.
Yuki Tsunoda, driver of the RB Visa Cash App, at the 2024 F1 vehicle launch
Red Bull and Honda are the manufacturers of Visa Cash App RB’s Yuki Tsunoda.
However, Tsunoda’s racing career was aided by Honda once he joined their Honda Formula Dream project in 2016. Only in 2019 did the native of Kanagawa go to Europe to compete in Formula 3 races; at that time, Tsunoda enrolled in Red Bull’s driver development program.
After finishing P9 in the 2019 Formula 3 championship, Tsunoda would go on to have a rapid ascent through the ranks, finishing third in the 2020 Formula 2 season. Then, at AlphaTauri, Red Bull replaced Daniil Kvyat with the Honda protégé, signaling the impending graduation to Formula One.
The Visa Cash App RB drivers Yuki Tsunoda and Daniel Ricciardo at the 2023 Formula One Sao Paulo Grand Prix in Brazil with AlphaTauri
Red Bull’s choice to offer Tsunoda a Formula 1 seat at their feeder team in 2021 yielded 32 points from 22 races, according to AlphaTauri. The talented Japanese driver’s maiden season in Formula One is still his best effort to date. In the 2022 term, he scored just 12 points, compared to 17 previous year.
Eddie Jordan is adamant that Yuki Tsunoda’s skill is not the reason he is in Formula 1.
Through the 22 Grand Prix, Tsunoda finished with three P10s, one P9, two P8s, and a P6 in one of the six Sprint events, earning him his 17 points in the final year of Visa Cash App RB as AlphaTauri. In 2022, he finished with four points-paying finishes, compared to seven as a rookie.
However, veteran Formula One team owner Jordan believes Red Bull only maintained Tsunoda at Visa Cash App RB because of his performance, not to appease Honda, their power unit supplier. Since 2019, Red Bull has been using engines from the Japanese company after Honda powered Toro Rosso during the 2018 Formula One season.
“Let’s be clear, Tsunoda is in the team he’s in because Toro Rosso, or call them what you want – [but] Red Bull, as a family, they need to keep Honda happy,” Jordan stated on the Formula for Success podcast. And Honda has made that request. You can count on it being that way.
In 2021, Honda made the announcement that it would no longer be supplying Formula 1 power units. However, the Japanese company promised to keep providing Red Bull until 2025, or until the present F1 engine regulations expire. However, Honda abruptly changed its mind and left in 2023.
Tsunoda’s future at Visa Cash App RB is currently in doubt due to Honda and Aston Martin committing to a works engine relationship starting in 2026. Red Bull, meantime, created a separate business for power units and forged an alliance with Ford for the 2026 rules.
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