Yuki Tsunoda stands firm in his decision of not challenging Liam Lawson in Baku

At the Azerbaijan GP, Yuki Tsunoda claimed his best result with Red Bull, finishing P6, but he ended the race behind sister team's Liam Lawson. Subsequently, after the race, the Japanese driver revealed the true reason why he had not challenged the Racing Bulls driver, as the threat of faster cars lined up behind would have cost the pair more than what he would have gained.

After a myriad of weekends where Tsunoda trailed Max Verstappen in pace, the former driver seemed to be on an upward trajectory in Azerbaijan. After a notable qualifying result, he drove a strong race, holding back Lando Norris to take the chequered flag in sixth position.

While it was his best-ever result in F1 with Red Bull, it came at a weekend when Lawson shone. The latter driver claimed his best-ever F1 result, a fifth-place finish, after a stellar P3 qualification.

Moreover, during the race, Lawson fell down the field and was in the line of sight of Tsunoda, as he had fresher tires towards the latter end of the Grand Prix. But he was unable to overtake the Kiwi in the final leg of the race, despite having a performance edge over him.

A reason that the 25-year-old later revealed in a post-race interview (via F1's official website):

"I enjoyed the first stint, for sure. The second stint was also very hard for me, especially with McLaren behind and thinking about [the] championship, both Teams’ and Drivers’ Championship for Max. There were a lot of opportunities I could probably go [down the] inside and attack Liam, but there is a lot more risk that maybe McLaren will overtake both of us or [pass Liam], which he will step up one more [position]."

"I think as a Red Bull you don’t want to have that, and I think I did the right decision not challenging him. But at the same time, I didn’t have enough pace to overtake comfortably."

Meanwhile, Yuki Tsunoda only has a few more race weekends to prove his skills to Red Bull to land a seat at the team in 2026.

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Yuki Tsunoda is not worrying about his future at Red Bull

Red Bull's Max Verstappen and Yuki Tsunoda during the post-race celebrations in the pitlane after the F1 Grand Prix of Azerbaijan 2025 - Source: Getty

Yuki Tsunoda had replaced Liam Lawson after only two Grand Prix weekends this year. While the Japanese driver on paper has had a smaller performance delta to Max Verstappen, he has had a timid points tally after having multiple dismal race weekends.

Moreover, he now only has three race weekends left on his card to convince the Red Bull hierarchy that he is worthy of staying with the squad for longer, as he told the media, including SportsKeeda, after the race in Baku:

"I'm not really thinking much about the future, to be honest yet. Every race is crucial in this moment, that's true. I just keep delivering the result and showing some brightness every race. Let them decide what they want to do."

Yuki Tsunoda's P6 finish at the Azerbaijan GP is his best result in the Grand Prix format in over three years.