Yuki Tsunoda has rubbished claims linking him with a potential move to Aston Martin - and the knock-on effect it could be having on his Red Bull chances.
Tsunoda will be staying for a fourth season at AlphaTauri in 2024, and enjoyed a strong end to the '23 season, leading the charge for seventh in the Constructors' in his strongest season to date.
Backers Honda is set to join forces with Aston Martin for the 2026 season, with Tsunoda touted as a potential driver for the Silverstone-based team.
The Japanese racer insists the links to Aston are spurious and hopes that the links circulated on social media have not harmed his chances of earning promotion to the senior Red Bull squad - with team-mate Daniel Ricciardo clear that he wants to replace Sergio Perez in 2025.
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"I hope so, to be honest because I don't want Red Bull to misunderstand that I am just focusing on Aston Martin or anything," Tsunoda told media including RacingNews365 when asked if he felt Red Bull was starting to pay attention to him as a potential senior team driver.
"I'm with AlphaTauri and have been with Honda since I was 18 years old, I just need to focus on performing for Red Bull, not for Aston Martin or something like that.
"Hopefully, they don't misunderstand these things and hopefully they really consider me for the future.
"If I perform well, then I am the driver, but if I didn't, I understand, but if I am able to show my performance, I would like to have a bit more attention.
"I saw on social media that Red Bull thinks I am already going to Aston Martin, and that is why they don't put me in the Red Bull.
"I don't know if that is true or not, because it is social media, but if it is, than it is not the case, but anyway, I just have to show my performance and convince them to make sure that I am the real material to be in a Red Bull.
"If it is the case, then I am not happy with it, because it's not true, and I don't know the conversations they are having with Honda - who still supply the engine.
"But for Honda, what they are saying as long as one day a Japanese driver can be successful, they don't care where I go.
"They want a Japanese driver to be successful, and obviously, we would be lucky if we can work together for this success, but if they don't, they don't care about it - and that is what I like.
"They don't care which tea you are with, they don't really focus on Aston Martin, just Yuki Tsunoda the driver to make me a successful driver."
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