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Yuki Tsunoda’s return to Formula 1 came with barely any preparation. After Isack Hadjar injured his wrist during the summer break, Liam Lawson was moved from Racing Bulls to Red Bull Racing, opening the door for Tsunoda to return to the junior team at Zandvoort.
The Japanese driver said he received the call on Tuesday while holidaying in Greece with his manager and friends. “I was on the beach,” Tsunoda told media in the Zandvoort paddock. “I just suddenly got a call, ‘OK, you have to go to the UK.’”
He initially struggled to understand the urgency. “I was in Greece [for] just 24 hours and you already want me to go to the UK?” he recalled. The explanation quickly followed: he might race that week. His response was immediate: “OK, that's where I'm going then!”
The dramatic reshuffle follows Liam Lawson’s unexpected Red Bull call-up, with Lawson taking the senior seat because Red Bull considered him to have more experience of the new-generation cars. Tsunoda, meanwhile, has served as Red Bull’s official reserve driver this year after losing his race seat following the 2026 campaign.
Tsunoda’s appearance will mark his first F1 race since the 2025 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. He has, however, completed testing in previous Red Bull cars this year and continued intensive simulator and physical preparation.
“Physically and in terms of my mind, I think it's sharp enough,” he said, citing almost daily training and four TPCs that included five race distances. That preparation has left him confident of being ready to compete, even with the short notice.
The greater challenge will be adapting to the Racing Bulls car. Tsunoda has mainly worked with Red Bull this season and only used the Racing Bulls simulator for the first time on Wednesday. With just one free practice session available, he is deliberately keeping expectations low.
“All I just need to do is to get used to this car,” Tsunoda explained. He expects differences in car behaviour and operating procedures, although the steering-wheel switches remain familiar enough to prevent the transition from becoming overwhelming.
“For now, I just enjoy and have fun, which I wanted to have for a long time,” he said. Whether Zandvoort becomes a one-off return or the beginning of a longer spell remains unclear, with no public timeline yet available for Hadjar’s recovery.
He’s a software engineer with a deep passion for Formula 1 and motorsport. He co-founded Formula Live Pulse to make live telemetry and race insights accessible, visual, and easy to follow.