Former Formula 1 world champion Jacques Villeneuve is known for not mincing his words. This also applies to his assessment of a current F1 driver who has been struggling for months.
Red Bull Racing has collected 346 World Championship points so far and can therefore still have a chance of second place in the constructors’ championship, as Mercedes (355) and Ferrari (356) are still in sight. But: The Red Bulls can actually only rely on Max Verstappen, as he is responsible for around 93 percent of the points (321), while his teammate Yuki Tsunoda only contributed 25 points.
Hopes were high that Tsunoda, who replaced the hapless Liam Lawson at the beginning of the year after just two Grands Prix weekends, would thrive in the Red Bull car. But that didn’t happen. Former Formula 1 driver Jacques Villeneuve was all the more surprised that the racing team recently saw the Japanese driver finish eleventh in Mexico as a success.
“Maybe it was better than other weekends, but is it really a good weekend?” Villeneuve showed little understanding in a “Sky” podcast. “The fact is – he is still far behind his teammate. He doesn’t bring any speed or points for the team or support for Max in the fight for the world championship,” the Canadian put his finger in the wound.
From Villeneuve’s point of view, the experience that Tsunoda was able to gain in the premier class in recent years and then in the Red Bull car in the last few months should have been enough to achieve better results. But Tsunoda was “already on the decline,” the ex-driver shot against the Japanese and suspected that Red Bull would “wrap him in cotton wool for some reason” and spare him from criticism.
Looking to the future and the question of who should actually drive alongside Verstappen from 2026, the 54-year-old was just as clear.
Villeneuve recommends Red Bull Racing to “unconventional candidates”
“We all say in situations like this: ‘You need experience’ – and I agree with that, but you just need good experience,” he took another swipe at Tsunoda and made it clear that he no longer sees a future for the 25-year-old at Red Bull.
“It doesn’t matter if a driver has 20 years of racing experience. If he was never good enough, then he won’t continue to be good enough and won’t help a team understand the new rules,” said Villeneuve.
“In that case, you should go for a rookie or unconventional candidate, someone who brings fresh energy and new ideas to the team. What Red Bull Racing has now is simply not enough. And the people there know that too,” concluded the Canadian.
The main candidates for the Red Bull cockpit are currently Isack Hadjar (Racing Bulls), young talent Arvid Lindblad and Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls).