Yuki Tsunoda reveals major F1 regret: 'I missed that fucking car'

Yuki Tsunoda has revealed the one regret he has from the 2025 F1 season is missing out on driving the "pretty fucking good" Racing Bulls machine.

After Liam Lawson's struggles at Red Bull, Tsunoda was swapped with the New Zealander after just two races, with the Japanese racer stepping up to partner Max Verstappen.

However, Tsunoda only scored 30 points in his 22 races and five Sprints with the team, and will drop off the grid for 2026 as Isack Hadjar replaces him, but will remain as the third and test driver for Red Bull.

Tsunoda had been with Racing Bulls, then known as AlphaTauri from the start of the ground effect era in 2022 and had been central to its development with the variety of team-mates he had, including Pierre Gasly, Nyck de Vries, Daniel Ricciardo and Lawson. 

Lawson and Hadjar guided the machine to sixth in the constructors', scoring 89 of the 92 points, including a podium for Hadjar in the Netherlands.

Reflecting on the situation, Tsunoda named missing out on driving the VCARB02 machine for the full season as his only regret of the campaign. 

"I don't have many regrets, but the only regret I have is missing out on that pretty fucking good car at VCARB," Tsunoda told media, including RacingNews365. 

"It is like throwing away your kids, your baby, because it is the car I developed with the team through the years with these regulations, and I am sure there is my DNA inside it as well.

"So missing out on that and finishing without being able to get to the level we wanted is something I miss, but at the same time, I don't regret my decision [to join Red Bull]."