Yuki Tsunoda has addressed his Red Bull future and insisted he wants to remain with the team next season, but is aware of mounting pressure from Helmut Marko.
According to Tsunoda, Red Bull's motorsport advisor has made it clear he wants to see improved performance from the Japanese driver, starting at this weekend’s Dutch Grand Prix.
Tsunoda's current deal expires at the end of this season, and he has struggled ever since being promoted to replace Liam Lawson after the opening two races of the year.
Despite speculation over whether his future with the Milton Keynes-based outfit is at risk, Tsunoda is keeping his full focus on Red Bull and doing what he can to retain his seat.
Asked by select media, including RacingNews365, if talks to other teams is on the table, Tsunoda replied: "I'll leave that with my team, my manager, I just focus on myself and my performance.
"My priority is to stay with Red Bull and to show [better] performance as much as possible. That's my only focus. So, yeah, it's not my job anyway to search around. My job is to drive fast and score points and that's just the only things I'm working on.
"They'll do their thing, and I'm sure my performance will help anyway in those things. So, yeah, I'm kind of looking forward for the race in the Netherlands to show my performance better."
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The 25-year-old has scored just seven points since replacing Lawson and is point-less in his last seven Grands Prix.
This has led to growing pressure on him to perform, particularly with Red Bull aiming to secure second place in the constructors’ championship.
Despite a run of poor results, Tsunoda’s general pace and overall lap-time deficit to Max Verstappen have improved, especially since receiving an upgrade package in Hungary.
With Red Bull owning two teams, one option for 2026 is to return him to Racing Bulls, though Tsunoda is unsure whether that move is on Helmut Marko’s radar.
"I don't know, maybe Helmut is thinking in the background," added Tsunoda, on if he could be demoted next year. "I never know what he's thinking, to be honest. But for now, I understand he's looking for me to still show the performance.
"And I think the last two races actually, like I said, after I [was given] the upgrades, there's some recognition that my performance improved.
"Actually, there's a huge difference before that, and I think that helps him and myself, to give it more time to see how this situation evolves. And I think he supports me quite a lot.
"And, obviously, he's also quite a straightforward guy, he's here for the team, and he wants to have as many points as possible. So I need to perform, for sure.
"But yeah, if I understand correctly, he's still waiting a bit of time to define what's good for Red Bull. And I think, yeah, let's see, for Racing Bulls or whatever, they're performing currently quite well.
"And it's a team that I was in for a long time. So, obviously, my main goal is to still stick with Red Bull. But yeah, let's see."
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