Yuki Tsunoda has said he had been “dying” to return to the Formula 1 grid this season before he received his call-up to race for Racing Bulls at this weekend’s Dutch Grand Prix.
News emerged on Wednesday that Red Bull driver Isack Hadjar had injured his wrist while training over the summer break and would not be fit to compete at the first race back in Zandvoort.
Red Bull opted to promote Liam Lawson from junior team Racing Bulls to replace Hadjar, with Tsunoda informed on Tuesday that he would take Lawson’s place.
The Japanese driver said the call-up came out of the blue after he was replaced by Hadjar at Red Bull over the winter and moved into a reserve driver role this year.
“It was a very unexpected thing,” Tsunoda said on Thursday in Zandvoort. “So, yeah, I’m just trying to be calm.
“It was a moment I was waiting for and I was dying to have this kind of moment. Obviously, it always really depends on the current drivers who are competing this year.
“It’s not been frustrating or stressful, but watching every race [this season] from behind a screen, I was feeling like I really want to be back and driving.”
Tsunoda revealed he was 24 hours into a Greek beach holiday when he received a call from his manager requesting he fly to Red Bull’s F1 facility in the U.K. to start his preparations.
“I was on the beach,” Tsunoda said. “I don’t want to make some kind of different narrative that I was just hanging around at the beach all the time -- I was still training and everything -- but at the moment I received the call from my manager I was at the beach, pretty relaxed and watching the nice beautiful ocean.
“And I just suddenly got a call saying, ‘OK, you have to go to U.K.’ I was in Greece just 24 hours and they already want me to go to U.K.?
“And I said, ‘why?’ He said, ‘Maybe you might race this week.’ I said ‘OK, that’s fair.’”
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As Red Bull’s reserve driver, Tsunoda has completed simulator work at the team’s factory this year as well as multiple tests in previous cars, known as TPCs.
He has not yet driven a 2026 specification power unit, which features a much stronger bias towards electrical power and management of energy, but said he has kept himself as prepared as possible while watching from the sidelines.
“I mean, physically and in terms of my mind, I think it’s sharp enough, I was training for every day, almost every day and like a long time,” Tsunoda added.
“And also actually only training -- I have a lot of time to do it because I didn’t have anything to do other than that. Also I’ve done four TPCs and I’ve done within that five race distances. So, I’m pretty sharp and, you know, I had a good experience and good laps in those TPCs.
“I think having one free practice [due to the sprint race format] this week is going to be tricky, but that’s why I’m not setting any expectations for now. I just enjoy and just, you know, have fun, which I have wanted to have for a long time.”
Lawson was informed of his swap to Red Bull on Monday after a strong first half of the year with Racing Bulls.
The New Zealander started the 2025 season at Red Bull before being replaced by Tsunoda after just two races and returning to Racing Bulls.
“It’s a great opportunity,” Lawson said. “I’m very grateful to be chosen for something like this, obviously.
“But for us as drivers, we know that it’s definitely a tough thing to come into and to try and adapt to in one weekend. For sure, it’s going to be challenging.”
Despite the difficulties of switching teams mid-season, Lawson said this year’s Red Bull call-up would not be as tough as his F1 debut at the Dutch Grand Prix in 2023 when he replaced an injured Daniel Ricciardo at AlphaTauri midway through the weekend.
“I’ve had some pretty tough weekends in Formula 1 to be fair,” Lawson said. “Literally three years ago was Zandvoort when, obviously, Daniel had his injury and I jumped in.
“So that’s got to be number one toughest weekend ever, and I would hope that this is not tougher than that.
“It’s going to be tricky for sure, but I’m grateful to have had those experiences in the past as well, I think they help build you for something like this.”
