F1 legend shows support to Yuki Tsunoda as the driver breaks silence on losing out on the Red Bull seat

Former F1 world champion Damon Hill extended his support to the Racing Bulls driver Yuki Tsunoda after the latter was denied a seat at Red Bull for 2025. The Japanese driver made a solid case for himself to replace Sergio Perez on the Austrian team for 2025 with his results and eye-catching performances throughout last year.

The 24-year-old saw off the challenge from his two teammates, Daniel Ricciardo and Liam Lawson on his way to scoring the bulk of the points for the Faenza-based outfit in 2024. However, he was overlooked for a shot at being Max Verstappen's teammate by the Austrian team in favor of Lawson, who has only competed in 11 races over two short stints in F1.

In his interview with Autosport, Tsunoda remained positive about a possible promotion to Red Bull and said:

"[In 2024], even though I was performing well, I feel like I didn't really get credit as much as probably other drivers get, but it is what it is. I just naturally, just keep what I'm doing and performing well and just prove them wrong.

"I just try to give them fewer excuses or reasons why I am not in the seat. So, I just focus on what I can control, those things other than that, just accept the situation. I'm sure I can do a better job than what they are thinking."

On his Instagram Story, Damon Hill gave a five-word response to Tsunoda's comments and said:

"Lots of Love for Yuki."

Damon Hill on Yuki Tsunoda...Credits-Instagram

Yuki Tsunoda was overlooked for a shot at being Verstappen's teammate by the Austrian team in favor of Liam Lawson.

Yuki Tsunoda praises RB for their support of him

Racing Bulls driver Yuki Tsunoda stated that he had a "lot of trust" in the junior team and was not bothered by people's opinions on social media about his extended stay with them.

As quoted by the aforementioned source, the Japanese driver said:

"To be honest, I don't really care much about what people are saying on social media, because they don't know what exactly happening. It only matters what the team thinks about me, and I feel definitely a massive support from the team.

"They understood every race what happened, and definitely I got a lot of trust from them. That's what always matters and I really appreciated those efforts from them."

Tsunoda has arguably the best year in his F1 career so far as despite scoring two points less than his rookie season, he led the RB team from the front and scored 30 out of their 43 points in 24 races and three Sprints.