As Yuki Tsunoda shows signs of progress and Isack Hadjar continues to court headlines, voices in France are urging the young Red Bull hopeful to stay silent and deliver results -- while Laurent Mekies insists Tsunoda remains crucial to his team's current campaign.
As Yuki Tsunoda shows signs of progress and Isack Hadjar continues to court headlines, voices in France are urging the young Red Bull hopeful to stay silent and deliver results -- while Laurent Mekies insists Tsunoda remains crucial to his team's current campaign.
Hadjar, widely regarded as the favourite to take Tsunoda's seat in 2026, had a rough weekend in Austin -- crashing during qualifying and finishing far down the order -- just as Tsunoda produced one of his best performances of the season.
Despite that, the 21-year-old Frenchman has continued to discuss his future openly, even hinting that Red Bull should promote him before 2026 arrives. Veteran commentator Jean-Luc Roy told RMC Sport he has already warned Hadjar to tone it down.
"I said to him 'say nothing! Work and get results'. He's getting himself tangled up," Roy said. "We're not going to overwhelm him and put him down like his mistake at the start of the season, when he put himself out in the rain on the formation lap. It's his second mistake. In my opinion, we just don't need a third. That's the advice I give him."
Roy said Hadjar must first re-establish dominance over teammate Liam Lawson before thinking about promotion.
"Over the last seven or eight Grands Prix, he's been behind Lawson rather than ahead," he noted. "He has the same equipment, so it's not going well at all. He has to stop talking, get his head down, and work." On Tsunoda, Roy's tone was far more complimentary. "Tsunoda is starting to roll, he had a fantastic GP, a weekend where he fights. "In Isack's place, I would keep quiet and work," he warned again.
Mekies, meanwhile, said Tsunoda continues to play an essential role for Red Bull Racing through the end of 2025. "Yuki has a role to play. First of all, there's still a lot at stake in the Constructors' Championship," he said.
"Of course, we're no longer fighting for the world title, but we are for the positions behind it. So we need Yuki's points." "Secondly, the faster Yuki is, the more we can spread the testing across both cars. So it's important that we have a fast Yuki," Mekies added -- especially with rookie Arvid Lindblad due to replace Max Verstappen in Friday practice this weekend in Mexico.
Mekies conceded that Tsunoda's deficit to Verstappen in Austin -- 52 seconds, almost a second per lap -- remains too large, though he pointed to clear progress. "We always want more. I'm not going to say this was enough, because you're right about the difference," he said.
"I'm not going to tell you this was good enough. Nobody feels that way, and Yuki doesn't either. I'm just saying he's finished in the points twice now." "Yuki had two very good starts and two very good opening laps," Mekies continued. "This is progress compared to what he's shown so far this year. Is this enough? No. I'd be lying if I said that, and Yuki wouldn't be happy either if I said this was enough."
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