Yuki Tsunoda ready to follow Alex Albon's path and move away from Red Bull camp

AlphaTauri driver Yuki Tsunoda has revealed that he's open to the idea of leaving the Red Bull Racing motorsport stable.

Tsunoda became a part of the Honda Formula Dream Project in 2016. When Honda tied up with Red Bull in Formula One, he joined the Red Bull's junior team. After driving his way through Formula 3, Euroformula Open, Toyota Racing Series, and Formula 2, he was promoted to F1 in 2021, joining AlphaTauri.

The Japanese driver had a mixed time in F1 in 2021 and 2022, finishing 14th and 17th respectively in the Drivers' Championships. This year, however, he has looked in better shape. He has regularly beaten new teammate Nyck de Vries and finished on the fringes of a top-10 finish a handful of times.

Yuki Tsunoda's future, however, isn't fully in his hands as he is a part of the Red Bull family. The Milton-Keynes outfit's motorsport advisor Helmut Marko calls the shots right now.

The 23-year-old, however, is eager to have control of his destiny, which means he's open to a potential exit from the Red Bull family.

“It’s good to have more attention not just from Red Bull. I don’t get to choose what team I want to go to or what things I want to do in Formula One yet, I think Red Bull will still get to choose, so I want to get to a point as a driver where I get to choose,” Yuki Tsunoda said. (via GiveMeSport)

“Obviously I want to go to a team that I know, based on the last few years, has been consistently high,” he added. “Maybe one day AlphaTauri will be in that top part and in that case then there’s no reason to go to other teams. But anyway, it’s good to have lots of attention because it shows that I have much value and I think we as drivers we’re happy with things like this.”

Alex Albon left the Red Bull family in 2021 and joined Williams Racing in the 2022 season. Since the move, he has impressed with a string of noteworthy performances despite driving for one of F1's slower teams.

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Yuki Tsunoda amongst Aston Martin Honda’s targets for their driver’s lineup

After Aston Martin and Honda announced that they are set to join forces in 2026, questions about Yuki Tsunoda's future arose thanks to his history with Honda.

Tsunoda has been named as a possible driver for the Aston Martin Honda project.

Koji Watanabe, Honda Racing Corporation president, also stated that the AlphaTauri driver could be a candidate the team could consider in the future.

"Of course, there are Japanese drivers who would be challenging and we would like them to become candidates We're very happy to see [Tsunoda] succeeding," he told media.

"But talking about the future, we still have three years to go so it’s too early for us to say what will happen. I don’t think it's the time to talk about this. But we're hoping that he will become a candidate. But it's up to the team to make the final decision," he added.

Regardless of his destination, Yuki Tsunoda appears set to leave AlphaTauri.